BRUNSWICK

Mid Coast Hospital will host a public forum for community members to learn about the current concerns surrounding the proposed merger of Parkview Adventist Medical Center and Central Maine Healthcare, a multi-hospital health system located based in Lewiston.

Mid Coast “has a proposal that will help our community preserve local control of its health-care services, while maintaining high quality and driving down cost,” Mid Coast Hospital spokesman Steve Trockman said in a news release.

The forum will be 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 15 at Mid Coast Hospital’s café and conference rooms, 123 Medical Center Drive.

Lois Skillings, president and CEO of Mid Coast Health Services, will provide an overview and facilitate a public discussion.

Mid Coast “seeks an open, honest, and transparent discussion with its community members to about these important issues,” Trockman said.

Central Maine Healthcare and Parkview have filed a Certificate of Need application seeking state approval for the change of control of Parkview.

Under the plan, Parkview would be maintained as a health-care organization in its current form, with responsibility for the day-to-day operational control going to Central Maine Healthcare. Parkview would retain ownership of its assets and its tax-exempt charitable status.

The Oct. 15 forum at Mid Coast is but one public forum scheduled to discuss the plan.

The public also will have a chance to weigh in at a statesponsored hearing at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24, at the Knights of Columbus Hall at 2 Columbus Drive in Brunswick.

The Oct. 24 forum is sponsored by state Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Licensing and Regulatory Services.

Last week, the state notified Mid Coast the competing Certificate of Need proposal it had filed in a bid to take over Parkview is not subject to review under the state’s certificate of need law.

Trockman said Mid Coast intends to pursue its takeover through a provision in the law that requires the state to consider lower-cost alternatives when ruling on hospital mergers.

For that to happen, DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew must first reject CMHC’s Certificate of Need application.

Parkview is a 55-bed, acute care nonprofit hospital that opened in 1959. Parkview is a major employer in the Brunswick area, with 196 employees.

Central Maine Healthcare Corporation is a nonprofit umbrella for several healthcare organizations serving western, central and coastal Maine, including Central Maine Medical Center, a 250- bed hospital in Lewiston; Bridgton Hospital; Rumford Hospital; Central Maine Medical Center College of Nursing and Health Professions; and Central Maine Medical Group.

CMHC also is co-owner of LifeFlight of Maine and employs 3,200 people.