Click here for the latest coronavirus news, which the BDN has made free for the public. You can support this mission by purchasing a digital subscription. Hospitals across Maine are steeling themselves for a possible spike in patients with the coronavirus by stocking up on equipment and freeing up beds and workers. But while those efforts are critical from a public health perspective, they could make it harder in the long run for rural hospitals to sustain their current operations when many of them are already struggling to pay the bills. [Our COVID-19 tracker contains the most recent information on Maine cases by county] Besides spending heavily on additional staffing and equipment to handle the outbreak, many hospitals recently have been delaying elective services that are reliable money-makers — such as colonoscopies, physical therapy, lab tests and joint replacements — in order to conserve resources and prevent the spread of the virus. Hospitals themselves have acknowledged the long-term financial effects of the coronavirus will be serious, but they say it’s hard to forecast the eventual impact on their bottom lines. For one thing, it’s uncertain how much reimbursement they will receive from federal stimulus efforts.