The proposed expansion of Maine Medical Center’s Scarborough campus is being disputed by Mercy Hospital, which claims the expansion is unnecessary and could hurt its business.
Maine Med has proposed a new building on the campus, which today is primarily used for medical offices and research, to include a 55,000-square-foot surgery center that will house 10 operating rooms along with six overnight-stay rooms.
The project has been planned for a couple of years and was set to begin in late 2006. However, Mercy’s appeal could slow down the process.
Due to the size and cost of the Maine Med’s proposal, the Department of Health and Human Services has to issue a Certificate of Need, which serves as the state’s agreement to the necessity of a particular project.
In September Maine Med submitted an application for the certificate and was given preliminary approval on June 6. Fourteen days later Mercy Hospital filed written opposition to Maine Med’s application in hopes of stopping the project.
According to Tim Prince, vice president of planning at Mercy Hospital, the project is simply not necessary. He points to the fact that the Department of Health and Human Services has twice determined that “there is no need for additional operating rooms in the greater Portland area.”
In fact a Mercy request for additional operating rooms at a proposed site on the Fore River in Portland was initially denied, but because the new hospital was going to open in 2008 and was requesting only one additional operating room, it was approved.
“There’s no justification for why these additional capacities are needed,” Prince said.
Additionally, Prince said Mercy does not believe that Maine Med has made a valid case and has failed to prove that the expansion is consistent with the state’s health plan.
Ultimately the expansion could cost Mercy money. If the additional capacity is not needed, then people will begin going to other providers, which could cost mercy between $5.5 million to $7 million per year.
“We do not feel it is good public policy to support facility expansion just to shift volume from one provider to another,” Prince said.
Wayne Clark, associate vice president for communications at Maine Med, disagrees with Prince’s statements said Maine Med is busy.
“We’re operating at capacity both in-patient and out-patients and we don’t see a change in that trend,” he said. “Our surgeons, and through them our patients, have been clamoring for more capacity.”
Prince also contends that the facility does not need to be as large as is proposed and based on hospital construction specifications is 20,000 square feet larger than is necessary. He said Maine Med has failed to disclose how the additional space will be used.
Prince notes that the proposed expansion scored five points out of a possible 30 against the state health plan criteria, compared to scores of 22, 19 and 12 for three other projects approved for elsewhere in the state.
Prince said the reason for the low score was because it duplicates existing services, unnecessarily expands the major services and adds cost to the health care system. Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Michael Norton declined to comment on the specifics of the Maine Med project’s score.
The state has a cap on medical investments, designed to help keep health care costs lower. There is room under the cap for the Maine Med project.
Any “room” under the cap that is left over at the end of the year is rolled into the following year’s cap. Prince worried that approving the Maine Med project now might fill the cap and prevent other, higher-scoring projects from being approved in the future.
Prince questioned the validity of having a plan and a criterion that allows such a low-scoring project to move forward.
“We need to take some action and put some questions in that should have been asked in the first place,” Prince said.
Clark said Maine Med was surprised by Mercy’s objection to the expansion; especially considering it filed its objections just hours before the deadline expired. Maine Med did not oppose Mercy’s construction of a new hospital even though Clark said that will take some market share away from Maine Med. Finally, Clark said that Maine Med has never felt that Mercy was a rival.
“If there’s a rivalry, it’s a bit one-sided,” Clark said, adding that the two organizations complement each others’ service and Maine Med would prefer to work collaboratively with Mercy.
If the Certificate of Need is denied, there is an appeal process, but Clark could not say if that is the path Maine Med would take.
“I think it’s way too early to even think about that,” he said.
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