FARMINGTON — The member organizations of MaineHealth, including Franklin Memorial Hospital, which over the past eight months have been in preliminary discussions about reorganizing under a single board of trustees and combined financial structure, have decided to take that conversation to the communities they serve.

In a series of board votes at nine of the 10 entities that make up MaineHealth, members decided over the course of the past month that the time was right to engage their communities in a dialogue over what the organization calls “unification.”

The proposal under discussion would create a single, systemwide board of trustees for MaineHealth. It would also leave in place local boards that would retain significant responsibility for the hospital services and other care delivered in local communities.

The inability to deploy resources across the system has become a significant problem for MaineHealth’s community hospitals in recent years, which are under increasing financial pressure because of changes in the way health care is being delivered.

Throughout the summer, MaineHealth member organizations will meet with individuals and community groups to explain the unification proposal and gather feedback. Each member will additionally host a community forum open to the public, now through the end of August.

Franklin Memorial Hospital will hold its panel-based community forum from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 11, in the Bass Room. The public is invited to come, learn more and ask questions.

For more information about MaineHealth’s unification dialogue, visit www.mainehealth.org/about/unification.