BRUNSWICK

If the state agrees — and there’s no reason to believe it won’t — Central Maine Healthcare of Lewiston will assume governing authority over Parkview Adventist Medical Center later this year.

On Wednesday, Central Maine Healthcare and Parkview filed a Certificate of Need application, seeking state approval for the transaction. Mid Coast Hospital of Brunswick filed a competing letter of intent with the state, about a month after CMHC filed in June.

Chuck Gill, vice president for public affairs at CMHC, said Thursday that the state process should take from 45 to 90 days.

“It’s very likely to happen because the state has approved every one of these to date,” Gill said.

Parkview maintains a 55-bed hospital in Brunswick and a satellite facility in Topsham.

Gill confirmed that CMHC has loaned $8.6 million to Parkview over recent years — information that is included in the application. The move would not retire that debt, he said.

“We’re not buying anything,” he said. “There’s no money changing hands. CMHC will just become the governing authority.”

Parkview would keep ownership of its assets and its tax-exempt charitable status. There are no capital costs, new equipment, any change of services or number of beds at Parkview associated with the project, the two parties say.

Tory Ryden, director of marketing and community relations at Parkview, said that the merger would not alter the faith-based nature of the hospital.

“The management of Central Maine Health finds that the faithbased corps of our hospital is a very important and unique aspect,” Ryden said. “The only thing that might change is the name, or maybe our board of directors will be ‘massaged’ a little bit.”

So what can Parkview patients expect, once the transaction is complete?

A broader and thus better network for patient care, Ryden said. Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston and the Bridgton and Rumford hospitals are all under the umbrella of CMHC.

“This gives patients access to doctors here and to doctors at Central Maine Healthcare,” she said.

This all won’t be so new. In 2008, Central Maine Healthcare and Parkview signed letters of intent to make the Brunswick hospital a whollyowned subsidiary of CMHC.

“It’s not a new relationship,” Ryden said. “We’ve had a management agreement with Central Maine Healthcare. It cements our relationship.”

Parkview had been experiencing financial losses for years, Ryden said, when CMHC “came in and helped lift us financially.”

CMHC and Mid Coast Hospital have been competing for authority over Parkview for some time. Steve Trockman, spokesman for Mid Coast Hospital, said Thursday it’s not over yet.

“The deal is not done,” Trockman said. “There is no ownership yet.”

Trockman said that CMHC has a lien on Parkview’s property and equipment. Yes and no, Ryden said.

“You can call it a lien,” she said, “but actually it’s a loan. Do we owe them money? Yes, but we’ll be asking for a partnership with them, so it’s not a lien.”

Both Parkview and Mid Coast, Ryden said, can succeed in the area.

“Mid Coast is trying everything it can to prevent us from operating,” she said. “They are concerned about Central Maine, but there is room for two hospitals here. We’re not looking to shut down Mid Coast.”

In a press release, Parkview noted that “independent hospitals across Maine and the U.S. are joining larger healthcare systems to survive and thrive in today’s challenging environment. Parkview’s decision to join Central Maine Health is hardly unique as four other Maine community hospitals have joined larger systems in the last five years alone.”

Mike Ortel, Parkview board chairman, looks forward to the change.

“We are very excited to take this very positive step of becoming a member of the most progressive health-care system in Maine,” Ortel said. “This is by far the best option for both Parkview and the communities we serve as we go forward in the 21st century.

“Area residents will continue to have the very important local choice of hospitals,” he continued. “Parkview will continue to improve quality, control our costs and increase local access to care — everything the community is asking us to do. This is a marvelous step forward for Parkview.”

“We have worked closely and very successfully with Central Maine Healthcare for over a decade,” said Randee Reynolds, Parkview president. “They helped us bring LifeFlight of Maine to our campus and the Telestroke service in collaboration with the Massachusetts General Hospital.”

lgrard@timesrecord.com