WATERVILLE -- MaineGeneral's move to Augusta isn't the end of the world, Mayor Paul R. LePage said Thursday.

"It means we put all our eggs into Inland," he said. "As the mayor, I will fight like hell to make Inland a strong community hospital for Waterville."

LePage said MaineGeneral's chief executive officer, Scott Bullock, called him Thursday to tell him about the announcement.

"This is not a surprise," LePage said. "I've been saying this for the last couple of years -- that it's just a matter of time" before MaineGeneral would move some services away from Waterville.

He said MaineGeneral's operations are such that it makes sense for the hospital to turn toward Augusta; Inland has a different business model, being associated with Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, he added.

Asked if he thought people who typically go to Thayer for services will switch to Inland, once inpatient services are moved, LePage said he didn't know, but he said he plans to use Inland if he needs medical help.

"I've always gone to MaineGeneral, but I will now go to Inland, personally, unless they tell me I've developed a serious, chronic disease and they can't help me. Then I will look at Bangor and Portland, and I'd certainly look hard at Boston."

He noted that MaineGeneral will still have a presence in Waterville. Many of its HealthReach employees who work at Highwood Street and Main Street offices are scheduled to move to the Hathaway Creative Center, on Water Street, once that facility is completed. MaineGeneral also will continue to lease a building at FirstPark in Oakland, just over the city line, he said.

"People need to know this isn't the end of the world," LePage said.

Inland, located on Kennedy Memorial Drive, likely would see an increase in clientele with MaineGeneral's move, he said.

Inland President John Dalton had no comment Thursday other than to say, "We have to respect their planning process, and I'm sure it is a very thoughtful process and will continue to be a very thoughtful process."

Dalton said the impact on Inland is uncertain at this point.

"Without knowing the details of their plan," he said, "it is really too soon to speculate."

City Council Chairman Dana W. Sennett, D-Ward 4, said he is very concerned about MaineGeneral's move but, as with LePage, he wasn't surprised by MaineGeneral's announcement.

"They obviously feel that there are some advantages to moving their facility to the Augusta area; however, I just feel it's going to impact so many more people than just the hospital employees."

Sennett said the loss will be great, in that people who work at MaineGeneral in Waterville and shop, eat and spend time in the city will no longer do that. Businesses that supply MaineGeneral also will lose out, he said.

He said he is concerned about what the move will mean for Waterville.

"When you take a major employer and take away the jobs, you have to be nervous about it," he said.

But Inland will be in a position to draw patients from and expand services into surrounding areas, Sennett said.

"I think Inland has positioned itself for such a move," he said.