A bankruptcy judge approved the pending sale of Parkview Adventist Medical Center to its nearby rival, Mid Coast Hospital.

Judge Peter Cary signed the order Thursday allowing the merger of the two Brunswick hospitals to proceed as part of a bankruptcy action filed in June by Parkview. The order stipulates that approval of the sale is in the best interests of the Parkview, the bankruptcy estate and its creditors.

” … a sale of the Assets to the Purchaser will further the faith-based mission of the Debtor, serve the interests of the Greater Brunswick, Maine community for an

integrated community health care system, and maximize the overall value and benefits to the estate for the benefit of all stakeholders,” the order read.

The terms of the agreement calls for Mid Coast to pay Parkview $3.8 million at the closing, to forgive $579,540 of an advance it gave to Parkview during the bankruptcy proceeding and to commit $1 million each year for three consecutive into the Parkview campus. All 190 Parkview employees are expected to be rehired by Mid Coast.

Parkview, which is operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection June 15. Another hospital system, Central Maine Healthcare in Lewiston, tried to acquire Parkview in 2013 and tried unsuccessfully to block its sale to Mid Coast.

In its court filing, Parkview said at least some of its financial problems are because of contracts it has with Central Maine Medical Center, which provided Parkview with the personnel to run the hospital’s emergency room and also supplies Parkview with many of its administrative and billing functions.

Parkview said its emergency and inpatient numbers have declined, undermining the hospital’s financial stability.

That, combined with the CMMC contracts, means Parkview is “simply put … unable to sustain continued operations,” the court filing said.

According to court documents, Parkview owes Central Maine Healthcare upwards of $13 million.

Under the proposed merger, inpatient and emergency services will be consolidated at the Mid Coast campus at Cook’s Corner. The Parkview campus will be the base for the combined operations’ doctors’ practices; walk-in clinic; radiology, laboratory, ambulatory testing and surgery units; oncology, hematology and infusion services; and physical, occupational and speech therapy services.

Built in 1959, Parkview maintains 55 beds, while Mid Coast, formed through a 1991 merger of Bath Memorial Hospital and Regional Memorial Hospital in Brunswick, has 92 beds.

A news conference is scheduled for Friday morning at Parkview when more details are expected to be revealed.