Despite the shameful ruling to close labor and delivery services at MaineHealth Lincoln Hospital in Damariscotta, our fight is not over. The MaineHealth board gets a final vote.

We need the support of all Mainers to keep these vital services open. Above and beyond the critical reasons to keep L&D services open — the health and safety of laboring mothers and their babies — there are other concerns. L&D services are vital for a healthy, growing community that wants to attract and keep young families. That is why Lincoln County commissioners, the Damariscotta selectboard, local business owners and 6,000-plus petitioners like me want these services to stay open.

If my daughter’s recent experience at Maine Med is any indication, MaineHealth is not ready to absorb extra patients at remaining hospitals. After being referred for a medically necessary induction, she waited eight hours in a hallway in L&D emergency triage — hooked up to a monitor, on a stretcher, with limited information because there was no bed available. Others were waiting, too.

How much more overcrowding can MaineHealth hospitals accommodate if they continue to close these rural units? It’s a travesty, it’s poor healthcare, and it demonstrates that MaineHealth is not responsive to the needs of its patients or communities. The ripple effects touch all our lives.

Mary Anne Moisan
Damariscotta