On Thursday, Oct. 11, Rep. Bruce MacDonald thought fundraising would be the greatest  impediment to developing an alternative healthcare plan for the peninsula. On Friday, he discovered that the biggest problem may be finding a consultant.

MacDonald said his workgroup had been meeting with Stroudwater Associates, a national healthcare consulting firm, and on Wednesday had agreed on a $50,000 strategic plan proposal to present to the hospital task force on Tuesday, Oct. 16.

Under the proposal, Stroudwater Associates would develop a healthcare plan that focuses on retaining critical access hospital status and the emergency room, as well as providing other needed healthcare services.

On Friday morning, MacDonald heard that Stroudwater would not be able to work on the task force’s strategic plan after all. Brian Happala, Stroudwater, wrote in an email to MacDonald that Mid Coast Hospital’s CEO Lois Skillings considered Stroudwater’s planned work with the local group to be in conflict with their work for MId Coast. Stroudwater has had a 20+ year consulting history with MIdcoast, an affiliate of MaineHealth.

Mid Coast CEO Lois Skillings said in a phone call on Friday that the decision “had nothing to do with MaineHealth.” “This is really about our relationship with Stroudwater. It’s a very small region; we (Mid Coast and Lincoln County Healthcare) share a lot of patients and services.”

Mid Coast Hospital is a clinical affiliate of MaineHealth, not a MaineHealth member like LIncoln County Healthcare. “We are independent; our governance is independent,” Skillings said.

MacDonald said his first reaction to the news was that MaineHealth had influenced the Mid Coast/Stroudwater decision. But after speaking with Skillings directly late Friday afternoon, MacDonald said he believed the outcome had not been influenced by MaineHealth.

At the October 16 task force meeting, MacDonald reported that the workgroup had been having conversations with other consultants and “would come back to you as soon as possible with another proposal.” MacDonald said creating a financially-viable alternative to Lincoln County Healthcare’s strategic plan is doable and essential to the task force’s goal.  He said this alternative healthcare plan would be presented to the St. Andrews Hospital Board of Trustees.

MacDonald referred to the community hospital administrative district idea, previously proposed as an approach to changing local hospital governance, as “plan B or C.”

Legal and financial update

Boothbay Town Manager JIm Chaousis said legal plans are progressing well and he expected to have “a product in the next week or two.” Legal costs to date total $4,500; Chaousis said the next wave of legal costs would range from $8,500 to $15,000.

The task force has raised over $28,000 to date and is preparing for another fundraising push to raise funds for legal and consulting costs. Volunteer Coordinator Peggy Powis said the group will need to raise about $50,000 in a short period of time “We need to raise it fast to send a message,” Powis said. 

Sue Mello can be reached at 844-4629 or sumello@boothbayregister.com