YORK – York Hospital says it is in talks with MaineHealth about a merger.

Patrick Taylor, president and CEO of York Hospital, said Monday that York Hospital has been working with MaineHealth over the past year and a half. 

“It’s been a very amicable partnership,” he said.

A MaineHealth spokesperson declined comment on the merger talks, referring inquiries to Taylor. 

Taylor said it has become difficult to sustain York Hospital as an independent entity, with labor and drug costs continuing to go up. He said he wants to see York Hospital take advantage of new technologies and connect to a larger hospital group to potentially increase eligibility for federal benefits through Medicaid and MaineCare.

“We, the executive leadership team and the board ultimately have come to the decision that boy, (we) just can’t keep continuing to do this alone,” he said. “We need a partner to secure our future, secure the future for our communities. MaineHealth became the obvious choice.”

Established in 1906, York Hospital is one of a shrinking number of independent health care providers in Maine. It serves southern York County and portions of seacoast New Hampshire. The hospital is licensed to have 79 beds and employs more than 275 medical staff. Hospital data indicated in 2024 the hospital had more than 65,000 primary care visits and just under 17,000 emergency room visits.

MaineHealth is, according to state-level labor data, Maine’s largest private employer with more than 20,000 employees. According to a statement, the hospital group treats an estimated 1.1 million patients a year statewide. 

Any merger between the two hospital groups must be approved by regulators at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and the Maine Attorney General’s Office, Taylor said.

Taylor said the impact to patients will be “very positive,” but acknowledged that there may be layoffs as a result of the merger.

“There will be some consolidation of positions as we move forward,” he said. “We don’t know what those will be right now.”

Taylor did say that most of the positions being eyed for consolidation are “non-patient-facing” positions. 

News of the potential merger generated dozens of comments on York Hospital’s Facebook account. Many commenters worried about their local hospital being absorbed by a larger company.

“The care at York Hospital was far better than I ever experienced with Maine Health – If it wasn't, I wouldn't drive past two other hospitals to get to York,” wrote Maegan Garvin.

Others noted that consolidation is happening throughout health care, and said it was preferred to seeing York Hospital close.

“There could’ve been a far worse outcome to this,” Jason Martin wrote.