Eastport health center to be renovated; new building nixed

A planned new health center will not be built in Eastport after all, since bids for the project, first announced in early 2024, were much higher than expected. However, the expansion of services in Eastport will still occur, but at the current facility on Boynton St.

Michael Farrell, chief executive officer of Eastport Health Care and St. Croix Regional Family Health Center, which are now merged as a single nonprofit, says five bids for the new building were received, ranging from $18 million to $23 million, with the bidding process having closed last week. "It would have cost about $6 million to just put up the walls" for the building, he says. With only a little over $5 million available in funding, the health center's board decided instead to use the monies to remodel the existing building.

"We can do this with the funding we have with no additional debt," Farrell says. "All of the services planned for the new building will be put in the current building." An architectural firm, Foresight Engineering of Lincoln, has begun redesigning the building, and the project will be placed out to bid "as soon as possible," Farrell says. It should be completed by September 2027.

The administrative offices in the back of the building, with much of that space no longer occupied, will be remodeled, and the dental offices will move out there. The medical area will then be refurbished, with exam rooms added where the dental offices were.

The new building would have been on outer Key St., next to the former R&M IGA building, with work scheduled to have begun this month. The health center still owns the land, and Farrell says they will look for grants to carry out a project there that will align with the health center's mission in the community.

"We were disappointed" about the new building, Farrell says. "We were excited about what that project would do. But there is now a new opportunity to bring top-quality care to the area, and that will still be our goal with this project."

"I think our new project will allow the flexibility to bring more for both our patients and our team," he says. By not incurring any new debt, the health center will be able to undertake projects in the future, including a pharmacy at its Eastport location. "We can tackle that more quickly than we could have," Farrell says. He notes that there is higher demand than available access for pharmacy services not only in Eastport but in Calais, Princeton and Machias.

Work to begin at Calais site

Foresight Engineering also is working on renovating the new building that St. Croix Regional Family Health Center has purchased in downtown Calais. A bidder for the work is expected to be selected this week, with the renovation scheduled to begin this year. Work will start on the Lowell St. side so that the health center's services that are offered in its current Calais offices, also on Lowell St., can move there. The second phase of the project will be to renovate the side of the building facing Main St., with a pharmacy and dental services to be provided in that portion of the building.

Changes in services, staffing

In other changes, Farrell reports that St. Croix Regional Family Health Center will be switching over to Athenahealth Inc. for electronic medical records. Eastport Health Care uses Athena, and he says it will help to have both using the same company. More information will be released in the coming weeks.

Also, the organization was recently awarded $1 million over a four-year period from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration to enhance remote patient monitoring. Farrell says the funding will allow health center providers to work on chronic conditions that patients may have, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, without them having to come to the medical office. Since travel can be a barrier to accessing medical services in the area, this service will prove beneficial. The grant was written by Delia Yates, the director of grants and community development for the organization, and Farrell notes that the health center was one of only 20 organizations selected throughout the country for the funding. "It was a very competitive grant," he says. Speaking of Yates, he says, "We're proud of her work for us."

As for changes in services and staffing, Farrell reports that chiropractic and podiatry services are now offered at the health center's locations in Princeton, Calais, Eastport and Machias. At the beginning of the year optometry services will be offered in Machias.

The Eastport clinic is now offering walk-in care hours for anyone, whether or not they are registered as a patient at the health center. Farrell says if a person is sick with a cold or the flu or has a sprain, they can now walk in for care Monday through Thursday either between 7 and 8:30 a.m. or 3 and 4 p.m.

Eileen Snowleopard, a family nurse practitioner who specializes in diabetes care, is now working at the Eastport clinic, and Jerry Starling, a physician's assistant, will be starting in Machias in mid-November. Ann O'Brien, a psychiatric nurse practitioner who was working in Eastport, retired in September, and Jill Rockey and Jennifer Doucette, both psychiatric nurse practitioners, have begun working in Eastport. Also, Shyla Yerxa and Brandy Fredette will begin working as counselors in Eastport and Machias.