ELLSWORTH — Charlie Therrien, Maine Coast Memorial Hospital’s new president and chief executive officer, appears to have no illusions about the challenges that await him. The health care industry “is all about change,” he said Tuesday, his first full day on the job.

Courtesy The Ellsworth American

ELLSWORTH — Charlie Therrien, Maine Coast Memorial Hospital’s new president and chief executive officer, appears to have no illusions about the challenges that await him. The health care industry “is all about change,” he said Tuesday, his first full day on the job.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty and it’s not going to get any easier,” he said.

The implications of the health care reform legislation President Obama recently signed into law are far-reaching and complex, Therrien observed.

The law is intended, among other things, to make health care more accessible.

“What will it cost to provide all that access?” he asked. If the law seeks savings by reducing reimbursements to hospitals and physicians then “we’re in for some tough years.”

That said, Therrien, 51, appears eager and optimistic.

“You can stomp and whine or you can figure it out,” he said. “Change is the biggest challenge.” He said he likes smaller hospitals where the CEO has to do “a little bit of everything. There’s a lot of variety.”

Therrien, who spent the past five years as president and CEO of Sharon (Conn.) Hospital, said his encounters with doctors, nurses and staff at Maine Coast Memorial have affirmed his belief in the warmth and welcome a small hospital offers. He said he dropped by on Sunday and Monday just to say hello.

“Everyone is committed, focused on the patient … friendly and engaging,” he said.

Maine Coast Memorial’s assets, Therrien observed, include a dedicated workforce, community support and vision.

The challenges include Medicaid and Medicare funding shortfalls, an insurance industry that plays hardball, stalled malpractice reform that pushes doctors to practice defensive medicine and an expectation common to many Americans that modern medicine can rectify unhealthy lifestyle choices that result in, among other conditions, obesity and diabetes.

He noted that 80 percent of Medicare costs involve only 20 percent of the Medicare population — another indication that end-of-life care is extraordinarily expensive. But efforts to rationalize or rein in that expense prompt politicians to decry these purported “death panels.”

“We, as Americans, have become very demanding. We have high expectations and want someone else to pay,” he said.

Therrien and his wife, Ellen, arrived in town last Thursday. For now, they are renting on Hancock Point. Ellen, formerly a fourth grade teacher, is charged with finding them a house. Therrien said his wife will eventually look for a job, though not necessarily as an educator. The couple have a daughter, 24, and son, 22, both living in Boston.