By Gillian Graham
Staff Writer

The University of New England and Southern Maine Medical Center are working together to ensure there are no gaps in care when six clinics close later this fall.
The university announced last week it will stop operation of its University Health Care services on Nov. 2 but some clinics could stay open longer to ensure patients have access to health care.
The six clinics, located in Biddeford, Saco and Portland, serve about 20,000 patients and provide clinical training for medical students. Southern Maine Medical Center currently is in discussions with the university about taking over some or all of the services provided at the clinics.
University President Danielle Ripich said operating the clinics in their current form was not feasible because the health care system is complex and costly.
The clinics lost about $2 million last year, forcing school officials to use tuition money to offset the shortfall, she said.
“We’re not in the health care delivery system, we’re in the health care education business,” Ripich said. “We need to use those dollars more effectively for their clinical education.”
The decision to close the clinics came after a year of discussions by a transition committee that considered various options for the future of the health care providers, patients and students at the clinics, Ripich said.
In the end, the committee recommended entering into discussions with area hospitals and clinics about taking over operations, she said.
Health clinic employees were told about the decision to close on Aug. 4. The closure will affect 82 employees, including 20 doctors, 12 nurse practitioners, four licensed social workers and two physician assistants.
Southern Maine Medical Center spokesperson Susan Hadiaris said university officials contacted the health care system after they decided to close the clinics. She said the university wanted to see if there were any aspects of service provided by the clinics that SMMC could offer under its own system when the clinics close.
The university and SMMC signed a memorandum of understanding on Aug. 14 to allow hospital officials to look at specifics of the services offered by the clinic, Hadiaris said. A senior management team is currently looking at the situation and is expected to provide a recommendation to the hospital board of directors at its Oct. 5 meeting, she said.
Hadiaris said SMMC currently offers many of the same services as the health clinics. The hospital merged with PrimeCare Physicians last year to provide both primary and specialty care. SMMC is one of the largest health employers in York County with close to 1,500 employees.
“When people think of SMMC they think of the hospital, but we’re more than a hospital,” she said.
Hadiaris said SMMC officials are concerned about the patients who will be affected when the clinics close and want to help with transition to new services as much as possible.
“That’s the concern that brings us to the table,” she said. “It is our mission to ensure people in our area have access to high quality healthcare.”
Though the clinics are set to close Nov. 2, Ripich said the university will continue to operate them for up to 60 days until health care providers have transitioned to another setting. This will help ensure patients – who tend to stay with the same doctors – do not see a gap in care, she said.
A timeline for closure of the various clinics will be completed in the next few weeks and then provided to patients, she said.
Dr. Bruce Bates, interim dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine, said in a statement that the process of arranging for the welfare of employees, patients and students “is complex and will play out over the next few weeks.”
“Over the last month we have shared operational information [with SMMC under a nondisclosure agreement] and they have begun evaluating the various business lines and discussed details with our management,” he said. “I am hopeful that many of the service lines and employees will benefit from these discussions and that our educational programs will be enhanced as well.”
Medical students will continue to gain professional experience at various clinical campus and affiliates throughout the Northeast, according to university officials.
The school has partnered for years with hospitals from Bangor to Pennsylvania. Ripich said a small number of medical students worked a University Health Clinics and whichever entity takes over the clinics will continue providing clinical experience for students.
Ripich said she is confident the university can maintain, and likely improve, the quality of its clinical education through the partnerships already established with 20 clinics and hospitals.
University officials met with medical students last week to discuss the closure and provide accurate information to ease their concerns, she said.
“Their job is to be going to school and our job is to manage this,” she said.

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.