YORK – York Hospital has begun the process of merging with MaineHealth.

Both hospitals have been in talks about a potential merger since November 2025, and just recently got the green light from state regulators in August.

“We spent a lot of time working on this, years, in fact,” said state Sen. Mark Lawrence (D-York), who serves on York Hospital’s Board of Directors.

York Hospital President and CEO Patrick Taylor said in November 2025 that rising labor and drug costs have made it difficult to sustain the hospital on its own.  

“MaineHealth gives York Hospital access to the resources, clinical expertise and infrastructure of an integrated health system while preserving what matters most — our shared commitment to caring for the people of York County close to home,” MaineHealth Southern Region President Britt Crewse said. 

Lawrence said Monday that he was concerned that one of the hospital’s two biggest competitors, Massachusetts General Hospital, based in Boston, or the national for-profit Hospital Corporation of America would end up taking over York Hospital.

“We would have just become a blip in their large organization,” Lawrencee said. “Here, we’re part of a Maine-based organization.”

Established in 1906, York Hospital serves southern York County and portions of the seacoast New Hampshire area. The hospital is licensed to have 79 beds and employs more than 275 medical staff. Hospital data shows that in 2024, the hospital had more than 65,000 primary care visits and just under 17,000 emergency room visits. 

MaineHealth employs more than 20,000 people throughout southern Maine and treats more than 1 million patients a year. The nonprofit has taken over other independent hospitals in the past, notably Goodall Hospital in Sanford, which was then renamed MaineHealth – Maine Medical Center Sanford.

When asked if he worried about York Hospital losing its identity in the merger, Lawrence said: “I worried more, its staying as a community hospital, being able to financially survive. Now, we know we’re not only going to survive, but we’re going to thrive.”

Lawrence said York Hospital was now entering into a “transition period” with MaineHealth, which should take about a year. He said he did not believe any layoffs were planned due to the merger, nor did he expect a reduction in available services.

“There’s only one constant in health care, and that is change,” he said. “The health care system that was here 20 years ago is not what we have today, and it’s not what we’re going to have in 2050.”