Damariscotta-based MaineHealth Lincoln Hospital will shift labor and delivery services to MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick, effective Dec. 18, as part of a broader operational change that combines the two hospitals’ OB/GYN and midwifery teams.
Comprehensive prenatal and postpartum care will continue at Lincoln Hospital. The hospital also plans to expand its local gynecologic outpatient and surgical services.
The MaineHealth Board of Trustees also committed to not close any additional labor and delivery programs across the system in the next two years.
Currently, more than two-thirds of pregnant patients in Lincoln County deliver at hospitals other than Lincoln Hospital, according to an Aug. 6 news release. The hospital has not been able to establish the stable physician and clinical staffing necessary to support a reliable 24-hour labor and delivery program over the long term.
The system is calling on the state governor and legislature to bring together stakeholders to identify solutions to labor and delivery services in rural communities.
