Northern Light AR Gould Hospital 340B Benefits
FY23 savings: $15,975,144
Northern Light AR Gould Hospital is a member of Northern Light Health, and as a member, we are committed to building a better healthcare system for all the people of Maine. Our mission is to improve the health of the people and communities we serve. Participation in the 340B program helps us to provide comprehensive healthcare services and life-saving prescriptions to our community.
As a 340B hospital, we purchase medications for qualified patients at a reduced rate from drug companies. The savings are reinvested in services and programs that benefit the patients we serve. While some services are covered by insurance, Medicare and MaineCare reimburse us at a payment rate far below the actual cost to provide care. Other services provide significant benefit to our patients but are not covered by any insurance program. In addition to programs and services in the areas identified below, Northern Light AR Gould Hospital experienced losses associated to free “charity” care provided last fiscal year amounting to nearly $1.4 million dollars. We are committed to our patients, their families, and each other and will provide the care needed, no matter what the situation.
Please see a list below of some of the benefits provided to our community through this program.
340B Program Benefits
Residents of Aroostook County identify transportation challenges as a barrier to accessing healthcare highlighting the critical need to have primary care and specialty care close to home. Aroostook County is further challenged by our low ratio of primary care to 100,000 population was 45.6, compared to 67.3 for the state overall in 2017.
Primary and Pediatric Care
Having access to a primary care provider is important in a patient’s overall health. A PCP gains valuable insight from tracking a patient’s health over time and can make treatment decisions accordingly. A PCP keeps patients on track with vaccinations and provides information unique to each patient regarding their health and prevention of chronic illnesses down the road. We offer primary care clinics in Presque Isle, Caribou, Fort Fairfield and Mars Hill to ensure convenient, accessible family care for our patients. We have now added a primary care pharmacist to our team to provide one-on-one patient education and medication management as an extension of a patient’s primary care provider.
Specialty Care
Knowing that many of our patients experience transportation challenges, we offer a number of specialty services and providers that are not typically found in rural regions, including: medical and radiation oncology (we are the only providers of radiation therapy north of Bangor); cardiology; pulmonary care; general and vascular surgery; ear, nose and throat services; OB/GYN, ophthalmology and optometry services; orthopedics and pain management; sleep medicine; urology; endocrinology; dermatology, rheumatology and more. Not only are we able to bring these services to the area, but we often able to collaborate to bring some of these specialty services to the other hospitals in Aroostook County.
The Importance of Maintaining the 340B Program
As Mainers, we are in this together. And, at Northern Light Health, we are dedicated to ensuring our communities have access to the very best in healthcare. We tirelessly advocate to make sure essential services are maintained close to home for you. Reducing or eliminating our participation in the 340B program would greatly increase the risk of not be able to provide these services to our patients.