Mayo looks to the future

By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer

DOVER-FOXCROFT — A number of changes are underway and are being planned at Mayo Regional Hospital, and hospital officials shared their vision for the future during a recent Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours event at the Center Theatre on June 11.

Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Denise Buzzelli began by thanking those filling the theatre lobby for coming. “It just thrills me to see people who care about the community and want to see it prosper and move forward,” Buzzelli said.

“It’s great to be able to say tonight that things are going well at the hospital,” said HAD 4 Board of Directors Chair George Barton, crediting Mayo Regional Hospital President & CEO Marie Vienneau. “The team she has assembled and her leadership has made changes,” Barton said, calling the changes exciting and saying more new developments will be announced in the future.

“We will see a financial turnaround and return to profitability at the hospital,” he said.

“Most of you know that health care is a rapidly changing industry,” Vienneau said, saying Mayo Regional Hospital is faced with constant challenges and is prioritizing services such as primary health care, patient center and medical home with three new physicians and three non-physician providers being hired.

Vienneau said the hospital is “a community-owned organization” with 13 area municipalities making up HAD 4. “We are working with many partners in order to collaborate and keep the services and provide the services,” she said.

The volume of patients at Mayo Regional Hospital has declined the last few years, Vienneau said. She explained this is in part due to turnover in general surgery and other providers, but the hospital is working to fill these positions and offer these services around the clock.

“Making the finances of a critical access hospital can be a challenge,” Vienneau said. She said a financial improvement plan will be implemented.

“Quality and patient safety are always a priority for the board and senior management,” she said. Vienneau mentioned that earlier in the year Mayo Regional Hospital received an award signifying the facility as one of the cleanest hospitals in the country.

An emphasis is being placed on the obstetrics and oncology departments, with an OB/gyn doctor being added already and another being sought. Vienneau said Jane Hibbard-Merrill and her husband Charles have donated $250,000 to initiate the relocation and improvement of the Mayo Regional Hospital Oncology Services. A floor plan of this revamped department being moved to within the main hospital was on display at the Business After Hours.  

“We are also prioritizing other renovations at the hospital,” Vienneau said, mentioning the rehabilitation center as one example.