The Spectrum Healthcare Partners Coastal Anesthesiology division brings together more than 25 experienced anesthesiologists to provide comprehensive coverage for community hospitals and surgery centers in southern Maine.
“Previously, about 60 doctors handled the needs of MaineHealth Maine Medical Center, community hospitals, and daytime surgery centers,” says Byron Hathcock, MD, Spectrum anesthesiologist and chief of anesthesiology at MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick. “But the needs of the patients at community hospitals are fundamentally different.”
J. Richie Garcia, MD, Spectrum anesthesiologist who provides care primarily at Northern Light Mercy Hospital in Portland, agrees. “Over time, patient needs have become more divergent,” he says. “This new division allows us to focus on the unique needs of patients in Maine’s smaller hospitals.”
Putting Patient Needs First
Spectrum Healthcare Partners specializes in delivering tailored anesthesiology care across a wide range of patient needs. “An intubated patient who has just been in a car accident and requires weeks or months of care is very different from someone having a same-day rotator cuff repair,” says Dr. Hathcock.
“Large hospitals, like MaineHealth Maine Medical Center Portland, provide comprehensive trauma care, access to subspecialists, and specialized ICUs that aren’t readily available in community hospitals,” says Dr. Garcia. “This level of care is invaluable for critically ill patients, but there are also many patients who need anesthesia for non-emergency procedures.”
The Coastal Anesthesiology division provides anesthesiology services for various procedures, including minor vascular and pediatric surgeries, ENT operations, tonsillectomies, gynecological and urological surgeries, obstetrics, and outpatient orthopaedic surgery.
“Our primary goal is always to deliver safe anesthesia to our patients,” says Dr. Hathcock. “In this division, we can now focus more closely on the needs of community hospitals and day surgery patients.”
Focused on Cohesive Care for the Community
Physicians in the Coastal Anesthesiology division enjoy a unique opportunity to build personal connections with their patients.
“Just yesterday, I took care of a woman for the third time in the last 22 months,” says Dr. Hathcock. “Even before she saw me, she recognized my voice in the hallway. My colleagues and I greatly enjoy that patients know us by name, and we get to know them, too.”
This extra face time is also helpful before surgery. “The thought of anesthesia often causes more anxiety than the surgery itself,” says Dr. Garcia. “That’s why those additional minutes with patients are so important. They help us build trust and provide comfort. It’s rewarding to reassure them that everything will be just fine, and we’ll see them when they wake up.”
The Coastal Anesthesiology division also collaborates closely with its partners, focusing on the specific needs of each facility and its patients.
“Spectrum Healthcare Partners has a strong quality improvement and assurance program, including tracking data and patient outcomes,” says Dr. Garcia. “With many long-standing relationships, we work closely with our partners to create anesthesiology protocols that ensure excellent patient care every day.”
The consistency provided by the quality improvement and assurance program is critical to the division’s success. “We travel to different facilities on different days and work with a variety of colleagues,” says Dr. Hathcock. “Our goal is to make our care safe, cohesive, reliable, and rewarding for doctors and patients across all locations.”
A Passion for Anesthesia Care
While it is common to hear that a patient is “cleared” for surgery, Dr. Hathcock hopes to shift this language.
“Let’s focus on optimizing patients instead,” he explains. “By helping people prepare before surgery, we can make them safer during the procedure. While pre-anesthesia preparation exists on paper at most hospitals, it’s not always well integrated. The framework is there, but we can all work together across healthcare to make this preparation more robust and improve patient outcomes.”
Even with optimization, some patients may still need higher-level care. “Sometimes, even when we’ve done everything we can, a patient might still need to be transferred to a larger facility,” Dr. Hathcock says. “One of the biggest challenges is determining where that line falls—when a patient should stay at a community hospital and when they need to go to a larger center for the best outcome.”
Though the Coastal Anesthesiology division is relatively new, its impact is already clear. “We’re excited to work with our hospital partners and provide the tailored services they need most,” says Dr. Garcia. “For patients, when you see us at your community hospital or surgery center, you can trust that your care and recovery are our top priorities.”
“We’re a dedicated group of people who’ve chosen a practice model we truly enjoy,” adds Dr. Hathcock. “We love working in the community and caring for our Maine neighbors.”
Likewise, top hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout Maine love having Spectrum anesthesiologists assisting with surgical procedures and specialized pain management. At all of our locations, Spectrum anesthesiologists are the only anesthesiologists providing services—caring for more than 75,000 patients each year.
To learn more about our current anesthesiologist opportunities, visit the Coastal Anesthesiology and Southern Anesthesiology pages on our website.
