One hundred nurses from Portland to Fort Kent are expected to join community members in Bar Harbor at noon today to protest the closure of Mount Desert Island Hospital’s (MDIH) obstetrics (OB) department according to a press release from the Maine State Nurses Association.

This protest builds on growing community opposition to the closure of Bar Harbor and surrounding areas only OB department.  The nearest small OB department is at least one half hour away.  The department is set to close on July 1.  In addition to more than 1,100 people signing a public petition demanding the cancellation of the closing of the OB department, Bar Harbor community members shared overwhelming disapproval of CEO Maguire’s decision at a standing-room only community meeting on March 30th.

This closure follows a rash of OB closures in Maine, including at York Hospital, Northern Maine Medical Hospital, Calais Community Hospital, Downeast Community Hospital, Waldo Hospital, Inland Hospital and most recently at Houlton Regional Hospital (HRH).

“MDIH Admministrators’ decision rips critical health care servces from rural, working families in our community,” said Janice Horton, RN, a 32 year veteran of MDIH’s OB department, when the closure was announced on March 27th.  “This devastating, short-sighted decision was made by Administrators without any input from or dialogue with nurses and caregivers.  Nurses are deeply concerned about the permanent, damaging effects this decision will have on families MDIH is supposed to serve in Bar Harbor and surrounding towns and outer islands.”

For more background information on the closure of the Houlton Regional Hospital OB department, please visit posts herein dated April 22, 2025 and April 9, 2025.