The parent company of Bangor’s Eastern Maine Medical Center and Mercy Hospital in Portland is changing its name.
In October, Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems will become Northern Light Health. EMHS Senior Vice President Matthew Weed says the name change acknowledges that the organization no longer just operates in the eastern part of the state.
Weed says what’s more important is that the new name reflects efforts over the past several years to bring different areas of expertise, technology and access together in a system.
“That can be used to provide individual care more cost-effectively and in a higher-quality way,” he says.
Weed says changing the name is the easy part.
“The harder part is the underlying work that has been undertaken over the past several years and that will continue to be undertaken. It’s a never-ending story. You never arrive in terms of improving quality and reducing costs — there’s always more improvement to be made,” he says.
In addition to nine hospitals across the state, EMHS offers a range of health care services such as home health, hospice, rehab and medical transport.
Weed says the different hospitals within the system will keep their names.
