New Waldoboro Medical Facility Expected to Open in Spring

A medical arts facility on Depot Street in Waldoboro is on track to open in March 2026 despite funding challenges, according to MaineHealth representatives.

“It’s going to be an amazing, state-of-the-art facility,” MaineHealth Lincoln Hospital President Cindy Wade said during a meeting of the Waldoboro Select Board on Tuesday, Aug. 12.

The facility will include exam rooms, a laboratory, and a community space where educational programs and support groups can meet, Wade said.

The new offices will house primary care providers and will replace the two MaineHealth primary care facilities currently operating out of converted homes on West Main Street and Mill Street. Those buildings are aging, cramped, and not entirely “up to speed” with accessibility requirements that would allow people with disabilities to easily access them, Wade said.

Wade said she also hoped the new facility would help MaineHealth attract qualified practitioners to Waldoboro amidst national health care staffing shortages.

“Trying to recruit to rural Maine isn’t always easy, and so having an updated facility, we have found, is a recruitment tool for providers. And we want providers to come to rural Maine,” she said.

Higher-than-expected construction costs have resulted in the project coming in at about $13.5 million, exceeding the $11.1 million MaineHealth had originally planned to spend on the build, Wade said.

The hospital has used funding from different sources to begin closing the gap including a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which MaineHealth and the town of Waldoboro acquired in partnership. The funds covered site work at the Depot Street location, where plans have left space for a potential future town-owned Waldoboro community center, according to previous reporting by The Lincoln County News.

MaineHealth set a goal to raise a final $500,000 through philanthropy, said MaineHealth Lincoln Hospital Director of Philanthropy Reven Oliver. As of Monday, Aug. 18, the hospital had received $315,000 toward that goal, she said.

For more information or to donate, email Oliver at reven.oliver@mainehealth.org or call 563-4082.