Maine Medical Center announced Wednesday that it has signed an agreement to purchase St. Joseph’s Rehabilitation and Residence.

The 121-bed facility on Washington Avenue in Portland is owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland and provides rehabilitation services, short-stay care, long-term care and memory services, as well as care for those transitioning out of the hospital.

Details of the purchase – including sale price – were not being immediately released pending final state approvals, said John Porter, a spokesman for MaineHealth, the parent company of Maine Med.

The diocese has signed a memorandum of understanding to transfer ownership, according to a Maine Med statement. The parties need to obtain a state-issued Certificate of Need for the sale to go through.

The sale is expected to be completed by the end of the summer, Porter said. The facility has 140 employees.

“With firm roots in our community, Maine Medical Center is an outstanding local provider of healthcare services that can bring a deep level of expertise to Saint Joseph’s,” said Bishop Robert P. Deeley, president of the Saint Joseph’s Board of Directors.

“Our hospital depends on facilities like Saint Joseph’s to provide patients with a continuum of quality care,” Richard Petersen, president and CEO of Maine Medical Center, said in a statement. “We can do amazing things for people with today’s technology, but not everybody we treat is ready to go home following their care at Maine Medical Center. It’s important that those patients are able to get the quality skilled nursing care they need. Additionally, many of our elderly Portland residents require long-term care.”

Petersen said Saint Joseph’s would continue to operate as a free-standing facility with no disruptions for current residents. Porter said Maine Med intends to maintain the St. Joseph workforce.


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