Our situation could not be better summed up than by the testimony of our citizens to the Certificate Of Need Unit (CONU) of the Department of Health and Human Services. They came from all walks of life: community business owners and their employees; retirees; former hospital administrators; doctors; lawyers; and even former trustees and administrators of St. Andrews Hospital.

We invite you to read their words, to see what really happened here. The testimony of 72 of the people who came forward can be read on our website: www.boothbaywellness.org.

So, you may ask: Where do we go from here? The answer is: We wait.

We wait for the CONU to reply by the middle of this February. They are faced with having to consider the application for two certificates of need, one for the merger of 2007 and one for the reorganization in 2013 which eliminated Miles’ hospital license and extended the St. Andrews license to cover both campuses.

We wait. A preliminary CONU staff analysis will be presented followed by a decision. They may or may not grant the certificates of need to MaineHealth/Lincoln Health. They may attach conditions which might guarantee beds on the peninsula and, perhaps, extend the hours at the urgent care center. But we wait.

We wait to hear from the governor or the commissioner of health and human services or the attorney general to explain what really happened here. Were the officials for whom we voted asleep at the wheel or are we at the hands of big business. We have asked who is responsible for allowing this to happen, and why can’t we find out what happened. We wait for their response to our request for the truth. We wait.

Think back to August of 2013. The Save St. Andrews Task Force turned the reins over to the Boothbay Region Health & Wellness Foundation, along with a war chest of $10,000. We did not, for one minute, think that we would still be fighting the battle. And yet ... we wait.

We were overwhelmed with the community coming forth with such powerful testimonies at the CON hearing. We thank each and every one for sharing their stories of truth. We are grateful for the talented and caring people who live here. As a community we have done what we can do. Now ... we all wait.

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”

―John Donne