LEWISTON — Spectrum Medical Group is shutting down its medical rehabilitation and pain management practice. It will close the Medical Rehabilitation Associates office in Brunswick this fall and the office in Lewiston later this month.
The closure means hundreds of patients will have to find new help with acute or chronic pain.
“MRA was a good practice and I’m sad to see it go,” said Gordon Smith, executive vice president of the Maine Medical Association. “It was an important resource to people in that population area.”
The rehab and pain management practice employed several doctors and nurse practitioners. Spectrum’s president said the practice started losing providers, including pain specialists, this spring and summer and was not able to find replacements. It closed the Brunswick office this fall, with plans to keep the Lewiston office open. It soon decided to close Lewiston as well.
“As we were closing the Brunswick office, yet another provider gave their resignation and the practice … was becoming insolvent. There was no way to continue the practice,” said Daniel Landry, Spectrum’s president.
Patients were told of the Brunswick closure in August or September, according to Spectrum. Patients were told of the Lewiston closure in October.
The Lewiston office at 77 Bates St. will close Dec. 18.
It was unclear exactly how many people will be affected. Landry estimated the practice had hundreds of patients.
Landry said Spectrum is working to transition patients to other specialists where possible and has encouraged all patients to return to the primary care doctors who referred them to the rehab and pain management practice.
“We worked hard to make this a viable practice because Spectrum Medical Group does not like the idea of having patients put in the position of finding new caregivers,” Landry said. “It’s added stress to their lives and it’s something we’re not happy about having to do. We feel for them and wish it didn’t have to happen.”
Some medical experts say there aren’t enough pain specialists in Maine and this closure could make that shortage worse. However, some of Spectrum’s former doctors are expected to resume practicing elsewhere in the state, which will help with the demand. Local primary care doctors are working on ways to deal with patients who have suddenly lost their pain management. And other pain specialists are preparing to take in some of Spectrum’s former patients.
Central Maine Pain Management, for example, is affiliated with Central Maine Medical Center and is in the same Bates Street building as Spectrum’s soon-to-close Lewiston office. It is accepting new patients, hiring more providers and planning to expand services to meet demand.
Central Maine Pain Management is also reaching out to primary care doctors inside and outside the Central Maine Medical Center system to provide support for dealing with patients’ pain.
“We may not be able to see every single patient in a short time span, but we are still able to offer proper care and guidance,” said Karl Saba, an anesthesiologist and pain medicine specialist with Central Maine Pain Management.
The physiatry department at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Lewiston is also accepting new patients and expects to see an increase in demand from the closure.
Physiatrists are rehabilitation physicians: nerve, muscle, and bone experts who treat injuries or illnesses that affect how you move.
“It’s a huge thing for the community, obviously, because it was a fairly large practice. There are going to be many patients looking for alternatives,” said Stephan Bamberger, medical director of the physiatry department.
Bamberger’s department is also looking to hire. The department has grown steadily since it was created about two years ago, but, “I think this recent event has certainly lit a fire under our desire to grow our department further,” he said.
Experts say former Spectrum patients should call their primary care doctors for referrals to new pain specialists. They can also find new specialists by calling their insurance companies or the physician referral line of their local hospital.
The Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine also provides information for patients dealing with the closure of a medical practice on its website, www.maine.gov/md.
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