A community hospital in Lincoln, Maine, filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday, citing steep declines in patient admissions in recent years amid a larger economic downturn in the Lincoln Lakes region, WGME.com reported. Penobscot Valley Hospital, a 25-bed critical access facility, will remain open as the chapter 11 bankruptcy filing makes its way through federal bankruptcy court. No layoffs are planned, and the hospital’s 165 workers will continue to receive paychecks, hospital CEO Crystal Landry said. The hospital has seen in-patient admissions drop 65 percent over the last four years, along with a 10 percent decrease in overall patient volume, Landry said. The hospital said its lower patient numbers were among “the ripple effects” of the closure of the Lincoln Paper and Tissue LLC mill, then the town’s largest single employer, in 2015. In addition, the hospital said a lack of Medicaid expansion in Maine and cuts to Medicaid reimbursement rates have hurt its bottom line. Read more.
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