He will lead both Pen Bay, WCGH for six months
Mark Biscone, the longtime CEO at Waldo County General Hospital, has been named to also fill in as the interim CEO for Pen Bay Medical Center for approximately the next six months.
“I will continue with my responsibilities as Executive Director at Waldo County General Hospital allocating my time appropriately between the two facilities,” he wrote in a memo to WCGH staff and the Board of Directors.
“Both Hospital Boards feel as I do that this is a great opportunity to continue working together on a regional basis and meeting the mission of the MaineHealth system. This is especially true in light of the changing reimbursement systems by our governments and commercial insurers as well as the realization that 60 percent of our state Hospitals are currently incurring operating losses,” Biscone continued.
He said he will generally be at Waldo County on Mondays and Fridays and in Rockport at Pen Bay on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; however, he will always be available by email with both hospitals.
In a meeting with employees, Biscone said WCGH and Pen Bay are already sharing some physicians and his service at Pen Bay might result in more opportunities for collaboration. For example, he said it might be beneficial to have an oncology center in Lincolnville, about half way between the two facilities.
As for the state of the healthcare industry, Biscone said he is very concerned about a bill that proposes to repeal the Sales Tax Exemption for hospitals. He said the impact to WCGH will exceed $667,000 per year at a time when there are already major reductions in payments to the hospital, along with an increased hospital tax.
Biscone has written to the local state delegation and suggested a better solution to the state budget shortfall would be to increase the tobacco tax. He said that would be a win-win situation for the State financially and from a public health prospective.