FARMINGTON, Maine — A rural hospital is laying off nearly two dozen employees and making a number of other cuts as well.
Layoffs and a salary freeze are just some of the cost-saving measures being taken by the Franklin Community Health Network, which includes Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington.
Sen. Tom Saviello is concerned about cutbacks at the hospital and the 22 full-time employees who’ve been told they are being laid off. Another 18 vacant positions also won’t be filled for a total of 40 full-time positions that are being eliminated.
Despite the layoffs, former hospital employee Ava Reynolds doesn’t expect patient care to suffer.
“They have good nurses and they have good care,” Reynolds said.
Over the last five years, Franklin Community Health Network says it has lost more than $15 million.
Interim CEO Timothy Churchill blames it on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements that don’t cover the full cost of care. He said the state failing to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act also has hurt.
Saviello is one of the few Republicans who supported Medicaid expansion.
“The Medicaid expansion is going to be critical to keep hospitals stable,” Saviello said. “But somehow that message did not get across to my colleagues. And I guess sadly what the message will get across to them, as they see hospitals perhaps in their rural districts change dramatically, because of lack of reimbursement and because expansion didn’t go through.”
In addition to the layoffs and wage freeze, Franklin Memorial Hospital will eliminate one operating room, reduce its emergency room staff and the number of intensive care beds, and close its underused radiology office in Rangeley.
Hospital spokeswoman Jill Gray said the cost-saving measures should save more than $4 million per year, putting the hospital back on solid financial footing. But some patients wonder at what price.
The Department of Veterans Affairs sends veteran Langdon Adams to Franklin Memorial Hospital for treatment. And even though the CEO said there will be no reduction in services to patients, Adams is not so sure.
“Even though they say it’s not going to happen, I’m concerned,” Adams said.
Franklin Memorial Hospital will still have nearly 700 full- and part-time employees.
It’s one of the largest employers in Franklin County, and Saviello said the hospital is critical to the area’s economic development efforts as well.