Partners in Community Health Services

BRUNSWICK, Maine – It is always nice to have a big sister or brother.  This is perhaps how the relationship between Mid Coast Health Services and the Oasis Health Network could best be described, due in no small part to current MidCoast President and CEO Lois Skillings, one of the initial cadre of healthcare professionals who were part of Oasis at its inception in 1992.  As an ER nurse, Lois volunteered and assisted Oasis founder Dr. Peter McGuire when he first began the Tuesday evening medical clinic at the Tedford Shelter.  Lois describes the ongoing Mid Coast/Oasis partnership as “symbiotic and mutually supportive.”

Recognizing the value of the Oasis HealthNetwork and its evolving role in providing an alternative to those seeking medical assistance in the area hospital emergency rooms, in 1995 Mid Coast Hospital offered to host the clinic in one of its facilities and it continues to do so today.  In 2004, Oasis moved to its current location in the Mid Coast Hospital Professional Building at 66 Baribeau Drive in Brunswick.

Mid Coast Health Services affiliate organizations have always supported Oasis as a part of the $8.5 million in free and uncompensated medical services that they provide to the community each year.  Free lab services and other diagnostic testing provided to Oasis patients are good examples of the health services support that Mid Coast provides.

Based on community need, and at the suggestion of the Mid Coast Medical Executive Committee, Skillings convened and chaired a committee that recommended development of the Community Prescription Assistance Program (CPAP). Launched in 2005, the CPAP is supported by both Mid Coast and Parkview Hospitals, including funding through the medical staff at Mid Coast Hospital, and administered by Oasis.  This program offers free prescriptions for those who qualify and cannot afford their needed medications.  The major drug companies make donations of these needed prescriptions.  In the first year of the program prescriptions valued at over $280,000 were distributed to qualified recipients.  In 2011 that total had grown to over $1.2million, making it a significant part of services provided by Oasis.

The recent reduction in those eligible for MaineCare has already had an impact, bringing new patients to Oasis every month seeking health services.  Although the Affordable Care Act is a step in the right direction for widening insurancecoverage, there still remain nearly 50 million Americans without health insurance.  As Lois Skillings points out, more efforts must be made to reduce waste and trim costs. Under her leadership Mid Coast Hospital has been recognized as the highest rated, lowest cost hospital in Maine, managing costs 35 percent below the state average.  The United States, however, spends significantly more per person for healthcare costs and yet our health outcomes are not that favorable compared to other countries that spend much less.

The increasing number of those seeking healthcare assistance is burdensome for all healthcare providers.  This stress on existing capabilities has made it more difficult to redirect assets to other needed areas such as child and preventive healthcare.  Preventive care programs are lacking throughout the US due to the cost of active, acute andspecialty care.

Oasis Healthcare Network will soon be kicking off their 2013 funding drive.  With continued generous support provided by individual donations and charitable trust contributions, Oasis and their Mid Coast Hospital partner will be able to continue, despite the challenges, to meet the healthcare needs of the uninsured and underinsured in our community.