LEWISTON – State regulators have issued a dire warning to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, with instructions to clean up unsanitary conditions or risk losing its Medicare agreement with the federal government.
A report from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services describes numerous unsanitary conditions in the hospital, including in six out of seven operating rooms that were inspected.
Neither state nor hospital officials responded to multiple requests for comment.
Health and Human Services disclosed two documents: The report, and a letter to Central Maine Medical CEO Allen Stefanek from Loukesha Hudson of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The letter warns that without corrective action before Jan. 6, 2027, the hospital risks losing its Medicare agreement.
The report contains the results of an inspection conducted on Aug. 21 in response to a series of complaints. It does not describe the complaints in detail but cites conditions that violate federal regulations.
For example, the report found “the hospital failed to address sterile surgical instrument trays being contaminated with an unidentified orange/yellow colored substance.”
Interviews with staff, according to the report, showed workers have been aware of the problem as far back as 2023.
The report also found evidence of chipped paint, loose or missing floor tiles, damaged door frames and holes and stains in and on the walls.
One inspector noted a drainage tube coming from the ceiling into a covered bucket. The tube was in a hallway outside an operating room. “The survey team opened the bucket in the presence of hospital staff and observed a brown liquid had accumulated in the bottom of the bucket,” the report states.
The report found Central Maine Medical “failed to ensure patient care areas were maintained in a sanitary and serviceable condition, free of damage, rust or evidence of water intrusion” in areas including six of its seven operating rooms, the cardiac catheterization lab and the emergency department.
The problems identified in the report are also violations of federal regulations, and do not meet “conditions of participation” in the national Medicare program, according to Hudson’s letter.
The report found the hospital already fixed the surgical instrument trays. Within hours of the Aug. 21 inspection, “a removal plan was submitted by the hospital.” It was approved the following morning and the problem, according to the report, had been corrected as of Aug. 24.
Despite this, the report concluded: “The hospital's failure to address the issue over a period of at least three (3) years, and the risks associated with the use of contaminated surgical instruments during patient surgeries has resulted in noncompliance with this Condition of Participation.”
Hudson’s letter makes the potential consequences clear: If the problems haven’t been corrected by Jan. 6, 2027, “We may initiate administrative steps to terminate your Medicare agreement.”