LEWISTON — Healthy Androscoggin, which became independent of Central Maine Healthcare last fall, is facing funding cuts because of measures in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by Congress last week.

Healthy Androscoggin is a nonprofit public health organization that focuses on preventing substance misuse, encouraging healthy eating, supporting physically active communities, preventing child lead poisoning and addressing emerging community health needs and priorities, such as cancer screening and prevention, according to Central Maine Healthcare general legal counsel Betsey Shew.

The law eliminates the Nutrition Education Programming through SNAP-Education, which means Healthy Androscoggin will no longer receive funding for its nutrition education program starting in October, Shew said. It is a roughly $286,000 loss.

According to its 2024 annual report, the organization had expenses of $1.2 million and revenues of $1.33 million in the fiscal year.

“We continually look for funding and are evaluating our next steps,” she said.

The public health organization also experienced a 30% reduction in federal funding for substance use prevention, Shew said. It gets funding typically from three sources, federal, state and municipal governments, along with foundation funds.

Healthy Androscoggin’s parent organization, Central Maine Community Health Corp., became independent from Central Maine Healthcare last fall. However, the organization still works with Central Maine Medical Center through Healthy Androscoggin and the hospital’s Community Health Improvement Plan, Shew said.

It will continue to collaborate with Central Maine Healthcare through many of its programs even after the latter is acquired by Prime Healthcare Foundation, collaborating with departments at the hospital, in areas such as supporting women, children and family health.

Central Maine Healthcare and Central Maine Community Health Corp. are still operating under the same board of directors until Prime acquires Central Maine Healthcare, when a new board will be appointed for Central Maine Healthcare, Shew said. The current board of both entities will continue to oversee CMCHC after the acquisition.

Healthy Androscoggin’s priorities and plans have not changed since it became independent of the hospital and it will continue to serve the community in the same capacity into the future, Shew said.

“Healthy Androscoggin works to create a community of thriving residents by giving individuals tools to live a healthy life,” Shew said. “Prime Healthcare Foundation’s commitment to sustaining support of Healthy Androscoggin will help to ensure the success of this work.”