The recent trend in hospital consolidations started in October 2013, when St. Andrews Hospital merged with Miles Memorial Hospital in nearby Damariscotta to form LincolnHealth, which in turn is part of Portland-based MaineHealth.

Squeezed tightly by the high cost of doing business at a time when federal reimbursements don’t cover expenses and more patients need free care, Maine’s hospitals are looking to each other to survive. Hospital mergers, consolidations and collaborations have been occurring for the past 20 years, but the trend has accelerated during the past five years, experts said.

The local Omicron Chapter of the DKG Society International of distinguished women educators hosted a meeting at Foxcroft Academy on April 4. The topic of the meeting was women farmers .

Hailing from Ormstown, Québec and the surrounding Chateauguay Valley, the Durham County Poets will bring their soulful folk music with hints of blues and jazz to The Commons at Central Hall at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 27. The Commons Executive Director Tara Smith said that both spectators and dancers are encouraged to attend.

On Saturday, April 27 at 2 p.m. the Center Theatre is partnering with the Maine Parent Federation and Living Innovations to air a free screening of the film “Intelligent Lives.”

Over 20 area souls met in the basement meeting room of the Abbott Memorial Library in Dexter April 5 to discuss the thought-provoking ideas expressed by Daniel Schmactenberger, a futurist whose concern about the current human demands on the earth’s physical systems has driven him to question most aspects of the status quo.

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate The Masiello Group, Northern New England’s leading independently owned real estate and home services company, honored its top agents for 2018. Agents from the company’s 36 offices in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont were recognized for their achievements in real estate sales including those from the Dover-Foxcroft office: Betty Ann Richardson, Grover Kilpatrick, Donna Vainio and Brian Chadbourne.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension Piscataquis County 4-H is offering the Piscataquis Passport Project again this summer. Enrollment forms are available Monday, Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through June 3 at UMaine Extension, 165 East Main Street. Sign up opportunities also will be available at community events.

To the Editor; I recently attended the community forum held in Guilford by Mayo Regional Hospital to inform citizens about the proposal to merge with Northern Light Health.

A career resource fair will be held at the Penquis Higher Education Center on Thursday, April 25 from 1-4 p.m. for youth to meet with local employers and apply for positions and possible on the spot interviews and also explore job training and higher educational opportunities available from Eastern Maine Community College and the University of Maine at Augusta. The fair is also open to the public and anyone seeking employment services or career services are encouraged to attend from 2-4 p.m. that day.