A planned sale of a Penobscot Community Health Care building has been disrupted by the city of Bangor, which intends to purchase the property.
The building at 103 Maine Ave. currently houses PCHC administrative offices. The organization planned to sell the building to a smaller local medical practice for $1.375 million, with a closing date set for Aug. 27, according to Dr. Eric Wise, president of Northeast Pain Management, which is the prospective buyer.
But the city of Bangor has decided that it wants to exercise its right of first refusal on a sale of the property. That right was built into the terms when the city sold it to PCHC in 2009, according to city spokesperson David Warren.
“The intention to sell to a third party, and the scheduling of a closing, were done before the City had adequate time to consider exercising its right of first refusal and before the City Council could deliberate the matter,” Warren said.
That jeopardizes a deal that could’ve given PCHC funds to quickly address its financial crisis after the medical provider announced last week that it needed $3 million in the next 30 to 60 days to avoid drastically cutting services or declaring bankruptcy.
“Completing this sale as originally planned would allow PCHC to direct proceeds toward
immediate operational needs now,” Lori Dwyer, PCHC president and CEO, said. “Timely access to these funds is an important part of the work we are doing to strengthen PCHC’s financial position.”
The organization is Maine’s largest federally qualified health center and provides care regardless of insurance or ability to pay for about 50,000 patients in Bangor, Brewer, Old Town, Belfast and Jackman. It announced Thursday that it plans to close its Adult Wellness Center and lay off several staff.
“The city would not be able to close and provide those funds in the time frame that PCHC needs,” Wise said.
The city wants to buy the building for its public health department, which currently works in leased space, according to Warren, who said the purchase would result in smaller yearly costs for the city compared with what it pays in rent or the $4 million estimated to construct a new building.
“The purchase of 103 Maine Avenue represents both short-term and long-term savings for the City, and the City Council has determined that exercising the right of first refusal is in the best interests of the City and its residents,” Warren said.
The organization gave Bangor’s public health department a walk-through and offered to sell it in June 2025 “after many conversations,” but the department declined, according to PCHC. The healthcare provider then listed the property early this year and sent official notice of the pending sale to the city on Aug. 4.
The matter has not yet been discussed in a public meeting of the City Council, although the body has discussed acquisition of property twice in the last two weeks while in executive session, a legal mechanism that allows elected officials to deliberate on a narrow set of confidential matters in private.
Councilors exited an executive session last Monday and immediately voted to exercise their option, but did not explain what option they were referring to. Warren would not confirm whether that vote referred to the Maine Avenue property, although he noted the purchase will go to a public council vote this month.
Wise said he has “a lot of unanswered questions” about the city’s motivations and doesn’t feel it’s been transparent about the purchase.
His practice has been looking to expand into a larger space as its patient volume has gone up “exponentially,” he said, following the closure of Northern Light Health’s chronic pain center in Bangor last year.
Northeast Pain Management focuses on interventional, non-opioid pain management, Wise said. He estimated that his practice provides 90% of those services for a population spanning half the state and noted it’s the only one in the region who provides them to MaineCare and Medicare patients.
Wise thought PCHC’s building would be “a perfect fit” for his practice, and he worried that putting the purchase on hold could disrupt services for his patients. Northeast Pain Management doesn’t own its current building, and the owner started moving toward a sale after the practice decided to move, he said.
He added that moving his practice into a space that’s currently occupied by a tax-exempt organization would expand the city’s tax base.
The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Sept. 14.
“We remain hopeful that the City will allow this sale to move forward, and we look forward to continuing to work together in the best interest of the patients and community we serve,” Dwyer said.