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32 VO L . X X V N O. V I M A R C H 1 8 , 2 0 1 9 "It creates great community from a recruitment perspective, because they know they're being supported clini- cally," Petersen says. Another benefit for patients is that there's now a single medi- cal record so that if someone is trans- ferred from an outlying facility to Maine Med, that record would be immediately available to clinicians in Portland. "Regardless of where you are in the clinical system, you're now part of the same medical record," notes Petersen. Consolidation also aims to relieve some of the financial pressure on smaller outlying hospitals so that they can focus on basic care and refer the more complex cases to larger institutions with greater technical and staffing resources — often referred to as the hub-and-spoke model. "We have rural providers in our system, so we were beginning to see boards who had to operate within their own resources making clinical decisions that were inconsistent with the way we believe care should be provided in those communities," says Caron. "If it's one big pot, we look at the entire service area. at's what unification is all about." He underscores that while the new setup streamlines decision-making, local boards remain in control of day-to-day operations and fundraising, and are best-placed to assess their communities' health needs. ough more than 60% of commu- nity hospitals in the United States belong to a system, some critics argue that merg- ers don't always lead to improvements. "While here in Maine I see some pos- itives in the growth of hospital systems — namely that consolidation reinforces the hub-and-spoke model — the inte- gration does nothing to help the overall cost problem in the state," says Mitchell Stein, a Brunswick-based consultant. "It also has not done much to preserve some rural services, such as maternity, that are essential to keep our rural areas viable." Maine Med's reboot, challenges ahead Maine Med's expansion, which broke ground last year, is a major reboot that will increase the number of private rooms, provide state-of-the-art procedure rooms centered on cardiovascular care, and reorient the hospital to Congress St. in Portland. e next milestone is fore- seen for November, with oncology care moving into the two new East Towers. Growing demand for outpatient care has prompted a spate of modern- ization projects elsewhere in system, including recent plans to invest $59 million to build a new Maine Medical Partners office building at Maine Med's Scarborough campus. Admitting that "we can't say we can fix everything," Caron points to three challenges that keep him up at night: recruiting doctors and nurses, making health care as affordable as possible for all Mainers, and fulfilling MaineHealth's core mission of improving health. "If we're going to address the cost of health care," he says, "we're going to get there partially by getting people in Maine healthier." R e n e e C o r d e s , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r, c a n b e r e a c h e d a t r c o r d e s @ m a i n e b i z . b i z a n d @ r s c o r d e s Cinemagic Refresh Cinemagic knows the importance of maintaining and upgrading their facilities to keep with changing trends. Let PM Construction assist you on your next major renovation to refresh and keep your facility current. Contact Laura Blanchette: 207.282.7697 Andrew Silsby, President & Chief Execu ve Officer Open our Premier Checking (business or personal) today and you'll support our local community. We target 10% of our income each year to go back to the communi es we serve. Doing business with us really does make a deposit back into our community. Banking with us makes a deposit back into the community." " Suppor ng Community We Make It Easy www.KennebecSavings.Bank Augusta (207) 622-5801 • Farmingdale (207) 588-5801 • Freeport Loan Center (207) 865-1550 Waterville (207) 872-5563 • Winthrop (207) 377-5801 » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E Age: 62 Leadership icon: From a value perspective, my father Maine's biggest challenge: Economic development Maine's biggest opportunity: Viewing the fact that we're the oldest state as a benefit and not as a detriment. Best business advice: Take care of your people. 5 QUESTIONS Richard W. Petersen P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Age: 65 Leadership icon: My predecessor, Don McDowell Maine's biggest challenge: Economic development Maine's biggest opportunity: Growth, because it is an incredible place to raise a family, and it is a state that has a value set that works for a lot of people. Best business advice: Stay true to your values. 5 QUESTIONS William L. Caron Jr. P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY

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