York Hospital is seeking state approval to merge with MaineHealth.
After more than a century of operating independently, York Hospital is facing multiple challenges and can no longer go it alone.
Those challenges include the increasing cost of labor, supplies and technology, as well as difficulties with getting reimbursed by payers, President Patrick Taylor said.
The latest available tax filings for York Hospital show it had a $10 million operating loss in fiscal year 2023. The same year it closed its maternity unit.
“If we want to continue to deliver the care in the way that we deliver here, provide the services that we do to southern York County, we needed a partner,” Taylor said. “And when we looked at that, we determined MaineHealth was our best partner to proceed.”
Taylor said York Hospital has reached out to MaineHealth in recent months for assistance with clinical and operational issues, and it’s an ideal partner that will boost access to primary and specialty care.
“Patients should see this as a positive for them and for the ability to secure and keep care locally,” he said. “That’s very important.”
York Hospital must get state approval for the merger. Taylor hopes the deal will be finalized by June.
The announcement comes as another health system in Maine, Lewiston-based Central Maine Healthcare, is in the process of being acquired by California-based Prime Healthcare Foundation.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
