The following letter was sent to MaineHealth patients March 16. MaineHealth, based in Portland, is the umbrella organization over Pen Bay Medical Center, Pen Bay physicians, Waldo County General Hospital, Waldo County physicians, and Miles Hospital in Damariscotta. MaineHealth is suspending elective procedures and non-urgent office appointments.

Dear MaineHealth patient,

The unprecedented coronavirus outbreak sweeping the globe and impacting our community has started to have a direct effect on our operations. While we are confident of our ability to respond to the challenges posed by a COVID-19 outbreak, doing so requires that we shift resources and attention to those patients with the most urgent needs.

As a result, our organization is suspending elective procedures at our hospitals and outpatient facilities and non-urgent office appointments at our practices.

This includes surgeries and other procedures that can be delayed without harm to the patient as well as annual check-ups and other office visits that can be reasonably postponed. Supporting public health efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Maine is one of the approaches we can take to protect our patients, families and care teams. Keeping patients at home who are scheduled for non-urgent services rather than having them come to the hospital or office will help keep you safe and reduce the spread of coronavirus.

We expect to notify patients who are impacted by this decision at the latest by the end of the day Friday.

If you are impacted by this decision, we will contact you. Please refrain from calling our hospitals and practices to check on the status of a procedure or appointment. Our care teams are already experiencing a significant increase in calls about COVID-19. Also, we are in the process of working through which procedures and office visits can reasonably be postponed, and we may not yet have an answer for you.

We recognize that for our patients this is much more than an inconvenience. There is anticipation and often anxiety ahead of any medical procedure, and having it completed often brings physical and mental relief. We ask, however, that you please consider how this will help us support our communities as they confront the COVID-19 outbreak.

Cancelling elective procedures and non-urgent office visits will:

 *   allow us to redirect our most scarce and important resource – our care team members – to the patients who most need their help;
 *   conserve the protective equipment vital to providing care in a way that safeguards our caregivers as well as the larger community;
 *   help us to keep beds available in the event of a surge in demand related to COVID-19; and
 *   reduce community spread of the coronavirus by bringing only the patients who need to be here to our facilities, thus reducing person-to-person contact in our community.

As you've no doubt seen in the news, at this stage no one can predict when the COVID-19 outbreak will subside or when the measures being taken to prevent its spread and support those most affected by it can be scaled back. For that reason we cannot say at this time when we would begin to reschedule elective procedures and non-urgent office visits.

We will be sure to keep you informed as this situation evolves. Thank you for your patience as we work to support our patients and communities through this serious public health challenge.

Yours in health,

Rich Petersen, President                                  Joan Boomsma, MD, Chief Medical Officer
MaineHealth                                                      MaineHealth