Insurance company Anthem announced Tuesday that ConvenientMD's new primary care clinic in Bangor will be will be part of its network.
The news comes after Northern Light Health announced last week that it was ending contract negotiations with Anthem. Northern Light will soon be out of network for Anthem patients unless they can agree on a contract.
Denise McDonough is the president of Anthem in Maine.
"Honestly the timing really has become quite critical, because in the event that Northern Light decides to go non-participating with Anthem, we will need any capacity we can get, and this provides us exactly that," McDonough said. "So the timing is really beneficial."
She said she hopes that ConvenientMD's entry into primary care in Bangor may encourage Northern Light to come back to the bargaining table.
Suzanne Spruce, spokesperson for Northern Light Health, declined to comment on business relationships between other companies, but said in a written statement that "it is important that people have access to care close to home."
Kevin Curwick, president of primary care at ConvenientMD, said they decided to expand after hearing from urgent care patients who say they have to wait months for primary care appointments.
"And we expect to have five primary providers in our Bangor location, which would be north of 6,000 patients we can support at our Bangor office," Curwick said.
Curwick said ConvenientMD is already looking to expand its primary clinics to more locations to meet demand. The New Hampshire-based for-profit health care company has 11 locations in Maine, including a primary care clinic in Portland.
