WATERVILLE (AP) – MaineGeneral Medical Center will not close either of its existing hospitals or build a new facility in Sidney, the hospital’s board of directors voted unanimously Monday night.

The board also voted during a four-hour meeting to close MaineGeneral’s Seton unit in Waterville, but did not say when that would happen.

The board voted to dedicate one of its hospitals in Waterville and Augusta to specialty care on a regional basis while the other will focus on outpatient and more routine inpatient care.

It did not decide which hospital would become the regional specialty center.

Board member Elizabeth Mitchell said she is confident the board’s decision has set in place a plan that will best deliver vital services to both communities and is the best fit for both.

“We’re going to begin the certificate of need process for an oncology center, for the best equipment and medicine,” she said. “You can’t put them in both places.”

The board outlined its decision in a page-and-a-half statement released after the meeting. Board members said they plan to work with Inland Hospital to develop a cooperative vision of health care for the Waterville area.

Monday’s decision was a major victory for Sheridan Oldham, a Waterville physician who spearheaded opposition to consolidating the two hospitals into one facility.

Oldham said he wished he could personally thank the 19,000 people who signed a petition opposing the consolidation. “There is no question in my mind that the public outpouring of opinion and opposition to the consolidation was a major contributor to that decision,” he said.

MaineGeneral Health President and Chief Executive Officer Scott Bullock and board chairman Brian Rines were scheduled to discuss the hospital’s future in more detail at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Thayer Unit.