The Presque Isle Rehab & Nursing Center will reopen with a new operator in 2025.
South Portland-based First Atlantic Healthcare will partner with Northern Light Health System to operate the 61-bed facility, which closed in August. Northern Light will close its continuing care facility in Mars Hill and transfer the 45 residents to Presque Isle.
In addition, First Atlantic will buy and operate Caribou Rehab & Nursing, according to Phil Cyr, president of the family company that owns both homes.
Many nursing homes around Maine have closed due to pandemic-related staff shortages and low reimbursements for Medicare and MaineCare patients. The Cyr family’s businesses also struggled to find qualified employees and were losing money, so the family decided to sell the Presque Isle facility and save the one in Caribou.
The coming sale means crucial long-term care accommodations will open up in Aroostook County, where more than a quarter of residents are 65 and older.
The family originally planned to sell its facilities in 2020, but the process stalled during the pandemic, Cyr said. The parties are now continuing the sale, which should be complete in about six months.
The Cyr family business involves the six children and 11 grandchildren of Albert and Anne Cyr, who founded Presque Isle Rehab in 1976.
Word of the Caribou sale got out about a week ago, and concerned families wondered if residents would need to move back to Presque Isle, Cyr said. He sent a letter to involved families to reassure them that staffing and care arrangements wouldn’t change.
“Caribou Rehab residents and staff may stay at Caribou Rehab as long as they wish and there are no plans to change that,” the letter stated. “The operation of Caribou Rehab under First Atlantic will remain as it [is] now with the same staff after the sale.”
The family also owned Katahdin Health Care in Millinocket, which they sold to First Atlantic in 2009, Cyr said.
He has kept in touch with some staff in Millinocket, who report they have been happy with the operation and the care residents receive. He expects the same at the 67-bed Caribou facility, he said.
The transition in Presque Isle is part of a joint partnership between Northern Light and First Atlantic Healthcare that also went on hiatus during the pandemic, according to Northern Light A.R. Gould Hospital president Jay Reynolds.
First Atlantic will also take over the operation of Northern Light Lakewood in Waterville.
“This change completes the long-term plan to operate all of the Northern Light Health long-term-care facilities through our joint venture with First Atlantic Corporation in order to align the operations and staff oversight to ensure long-term access and care for the residents of these facilities,” Reynolds said.
The business partnership operates six other nursing facilities across Maine: Colonial Health Care in Lincoln, Dexter Health Care, Hibbard Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation in Dover-Foxcroft, Katahdin Health Care in Millinocket, and Ross Manor and Stillwater Health Care in Bangor.
System officials filed letters of intent with the state on Nov. 6, and meeting other requirements could take three to six months, he said.
Some health care operations, including nursing facilities, must have state approval for major changes like mergers, acquisitions, building or increases in the number of beds, according to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
The 45 residents and around 90 staff members in Mars Hill will all relocate to Presque Isle, Gould Hospital Communications Manager Karen Gonya said. Since the facility is licensed for 67 beds, that means another 22 spaces could open up.
The move has advantages besides the larger building. It’s also in better condition, as the Mars Hill home needs several expensive repairs, Gonya said. It’s also next door to the hospital, allowing easier access to providers and services for residents.
Officials at First Atlantic Healthcare did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Northern Light is exploring uses for the Mars Hill building once the sale is complete, Gonya said.
“While we are sorry to be leaving the Mars Hill community, we do consider this good news for our residents and staff,” she said.
