Legislation currently being considered in Augusta — LD 2196 — ignores the vital community role hospitals play and the specialized care that could be lost if passed.

As a Maine pediatrician, I have witnessed the life-saving interventions provided in the neonatal and pediatric intensive care units, in the emergency departments throughout Maine and in the behavioral health practices. These services are available because they are supported by hospitals.

Recently, I became the patient. On a snowy Saturday in January, I suffered a traumatic injury that nearly cost me my right foot. When I arrived at the doors of Maine Medical Center, the emergency department and trauma teams were ready. Within minutes, specialists were coordinating my care and preparing for the treatment that ultimately saved my foot.

But I keep thinking about what might have happened if that care hadn’t been available. What if Maine no longer had the trauma teams, surgeons and operating rooms ready at a moment’s notice? What if I had needed to be transferred hours away while the clock ticked and the damage worsened? 

Hospitals in Maine are more than buildings that house critical services, like intensive care units and operating rooms. Hospitals are the center of an ecosystem of care that reaches communities with expertise in behavioral health, trauma care and specialized services for Maine’s most vulnerable. And for me. 

LD 2196 threatens our system of care by forcing hospitals to choose which services are eliminated. We never know when, where or how we may need them.

Jennifer Jewell
Portland