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Maine’s largest federally qualified health center needs $3 million in the next 30 to 60 days in order to ward off a financial crisis and possible bankruptcy filing.
Without an influx of cash, Penobscot Community Health Care will be forced to cut services and locations, according to Lori Dwyer, the organization’s president and CEO, in an opinion piece published Tuesday in the Bangor Daily News.
That could mean tens of thousands of Mainers losing their medical providers, further straining a healthcare system where it is already nearly impossible to find a primary care doctor, especially for low-income people. Penobscot Community Health Care is a key resource for many people in the Bangor area and beyond who have MaineCare or who aren’t insured.
Penobscot Community Health Care does not intend to close, Dwyer said, but if it doesn’t get the funding it needs, the organization may file for bankruptcy and restructure accordingly.
The organization serves about 50,000 patients and has nearly 720 people on staff. Cutting back on services at Penobscot Community Health Care, or PCHC, would likely result in millions of added costs to the region’s emergency rooms, Dwyer estimated.
“PCHC serves families on MaineCare, seniors on Medicare, children in foster care, and people without insurance. For them, risk to PCHC means losing the only health care they have,” she said.
As a federally qualified health center, Penobscot Community Health Care is considered a safety net provider and qualifies for special Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement systems. These centers offer healthcare to underserved populations, including primary care for anyone regardless of health insurance or ability to pay.
“The potential loss or reduction of these services would have significant consequences for patients, families, and communities across the region,” Karen Sullivan, a spokesperson for St. Joseph Healthcare in Bangor, said, noting that Penobscot Community Health Care’s financial crisis reflects broader challenges for healthcare providers that are “particularly acute for organizations serving vulnerable populations.”
Maine Medical Association president Dr. James Jarvis pointed to critical access issues to maternity and primary care in the state, noting that “safety net programs not only improve the lives of those who need care the most, but they improve the health of the communities those programs serve.”
Parts of most Maine counties, including Penobscot County, already have a health professional shortage designation from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, and many people in the Bangor area face months-long waits for primary care providers. Recent data indicates that Maine is projected to have a primary care shortage of 120 physicians by 2030.
“This didn’t happen overnight, and it isn’t the result of one single decision,” Dwyer said of the health center’s funding emergency, saying that state and federal healthcare money has been delayed, underfunded or cut.
Penobscot Community Health Care operates clinics in Bangor, Brewer, Old Town and Jackman, including several school-based health centers, and it opened a dental practice in Belfast this spring “because the need was too great to ignore,” Dwyer said.
It also owns the Hope House Health and Living Center, Bangor’s only low-barrier homeless shelter. The Portland-based nonprofit Preble Street took over operations of the shelter last year because of a funding shortfall
The healthcare provider has already cut costs in recent years, including by reducing its workforce, closing a practice in Winterport and eliminating podiatry, chiropractic, X-ray and walk-in services at other locations, Dwyer said.
Healthcare organizations in the region warned of dire consequences should Penobscot Community Health Care have to make more cuts.
“We are deeply concerned about the potential impact of significant reductions in PCHC services, both for the patients who depend on its care and for hospitals and emergency departments that would face additional demand,” Sullivan of St. Joseph Healthcare said.
Dr. Guy Hudson, president and CEO of Northern Light Health, said Tuesday’s announcement was “troubling news” for healthcare in Maine, adding that “the state’s healthcare ecosystem is extremely fragile.”
Penobscot Community Health Care’s most recent tax returns, from 2024, show nearly $109 million in expenses outweighing just under $103 million in revenue — a revenue drop of about $6 million from the previous year.
“Now we need Maine to show up for us,” Dwyer wrote.