Two things were clear at the September 21 Boothbay Region Health and Wellness Foundation meeting: Community members are still outraged about the decision to end emergency and inpatient care at St. Andrews Hospital on October 1 and there is nothing they can legally do about it.

Residents filled the old Boothbay town hall on Saturday night to  hear about the nonprofit’s efforts to “Save St. Andrews” and its developing plans to improve local control over healthcare. They also had an opportunity to elect 17 foundation board members and to relive both the hospital’s history and the history of the fight to save it.

Board member Margaret Jones Perritt reported that the foundation raised just shy of $72,000 and spent about $64,500 of the dollars raised to date, mostly on legal fees.

Board member Valerie Young detailed the group’s efforts to find a legal remedy, which involved consultation with five different law firms and the work of local attorneys Tom Berry and Tom Tavenner.

“I was privileged to be part of this,” Young said in a thorough presentation that ended with the young advocate near tears.

Young explained the criteria that must be met to file a motion for injunction, a court order that would temporarily stop the closure. She explained the burden of proof needed to bring such a case, the various avenues considered, and the requirement for a substantial bond to insure against damages to Lincoln County Healthcare for its financial losses should the lawsuit fail.

“In our case there was no clear evidence that they did anything that would amount to a breach of fiduciary duty,” Young said. She explained there was no evidence that Lincoln County Healthcare had misled its trustees or provided false information to them for decision-making.

A case under anti-trust laws was also not supported by evidence and could not be considered because of federal and state statute of limitation laws (St. Andrews affiliated with Maine Medical Center in 1997), Young said.

Foundation lawyers determined that taxpayers and donors had no standing in the case. There is no direct connection between tax dollars and the private nonprofit healthcare organization. No donations made to St. Andrews Hospital had been given specifically to keep the emergency room open or been solely earmarked for the ER. There are also no restrictions in the property deed that would limit the proposed changes, Young said.

Individuals who bought property at St. Andrews Village during the six months when the trustees were considering closing the ER but had not announced the decision might have a case, Young said.

But the legal remedy in such a suit would be minor, limited to those individuals and would have no bearing on the changes proposed at St. Andrews. 

“We know there will be irreparable harm suffered but from a legal standpoint we can’t bring this as evidence,” Young said, holding back tears.

The foundation also discussed plans for the coming year.

Sue Mello can be reached at 207-844-4629 or suemello@boothbayregister.com.