Pen Bay Healthcare and MaineHealth Join in a Strategic Affiliation
Agreement leverages strengths of local healthcare delivery
with collaborative economies of scale

The boards of trustees of both Pen Bay Healthcare and MaineHealth have approved the strategic affiliation of the two organizations effective Jan. 1, 2008. This affiliation will increase collaboration opportunities among the local health system (Pen Bay Healthcare) and the largest system and hospital in the state (MaineHealth and Maine Medical Center).

The affiliation will initially focus on seven key clinical and operational areas, including:

• Electronic linkage to intensivists at MMC (e-ICU Vital Network).
• Plans for implementing an Electronic Medical Record (EMR).
• Cancer Care expansion, including cooperative clinical trials.
• Systems to improve treatment of chronic diseases such as asthma and diabetes.
• Supply cost reductions associated with greater group purchasing power.
• Behavioral Health collaboration, including Midcoast Mental Health and Spring Harbor Hospital.
• Joint grant funding opportunities.

PBH and MaineHealth are already involved in many collaborative efforts: the cardiologists at PBMC are affiliated with Maine Cardiology Associates in Portland and PBMC provides Urology, Neurology and ENT (ear, nose & throat) specialists for Miles Memorial Hospital (part of MaineHealth).

Roy A. Hitchings, Jr., President and CEO of Pen Bay Healthcare, notes, "Most of PBMC's patient referrals for tertiary, highly specialized care are to Maine Medical Center and our physicians know each other quite well."

"By working more closely together, we can better serve our communities," says Hitchings. "This affiliation will help enhance our ability to locally deliver high quality, safe patient care while striving to restrain health care inflation."

Bill Caron, President and CEO of Maine Health adds, "This is as exciting an opportunity for MaineHealth as it is for Pen Bay Healthcare. MaineHealth is founded on the premise of collaboration. Working with the outstanding clinicians and other personnel at Pen Bay Healthcare will bring about the best kind of collaboration – the kind of work that improves the health and wellness of thousands of Maine people."

MaineHealth is a family of leading, high-quality providers dedicated to ensuring their communities are among the healthiest in America. Member organizations include Maine Medical Center, Miles Memorial Hospital, St. Andrews Hospital, Stephens Memorial Hospital, Spring Harbor Hospital, HomeHealth Visiting Nurses, NorDx, Synernet, and Maine Physician Hospital Organization. Strategic Affiliates of MaineHealth include MaineGeneral Medical Center, Mid Coast Hospital, Southern Maine Medical Center, and St. Mary's Regional Medical Center. Online, visit mainehealth.org.

The Pen Bay Healthcare family of services includes Penobscot Bay Medical Center, Kno-Wal-Lin Home Care and Hospice, Quarry Hill Retirement Community, the Knox Center for Long Term Care and the Mid-Coast Mental Health Center. Through these organizations, a staff of more than 1,700 dedicated healthcare professionals and more than 100 outstanding physicians, we are able to provide members of our community with a continuum of care from birth throughout their lives. For more information, please visit penbayhealthcare.org.