KVHC unveils new health center

Pioneer Times photograph/Gloria Austin
OFFICIALLY OPEN — Katahdin Valley Health Center held its open house for the newly renovated Community Health Center. Participating in the ribbon cutting are, from left, Shelli LeFay, HR/Risk manager; Mary Hall, KVHC executive assistant;  Lori Donley, KVHC COO; Dr. Lisa Nielsen, Deb Wilkins, clinical coordinator;  Elizabeth Dulin, HSF; Durward Humphrey, KVHC CEO; Virginia Manuel, USDA state director; Barb Legassey, practice manager; Carolyn Chapman, practice manager; Doug Kingsbury, chief information and infrastructure officer; Adele Altvater, finance director; and  Lacey Qualey, nurse manager.
$2.5 million project adds dental, expanded services for community
By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
    Katahdin Valley Health Center opened its newly renovated Community Health Center to the public last Friday with an open house and tours.
    The Community Health Center project added 6,040 square feet of new space to the existing 9,364 square foot building. The supplementary area will be used for four dental exam rooms, additional medical exam rooms, laboratory, office space and reception office.
    The dental portion of $560,000 was 100 percent funded by Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) through the Affordable Care Act, with the medical portion of the project funded by Bangor Savings Bank with a loan guarantee by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development for $1.9 million for a total $2.5 million project.
Pioneer Times photograph/Gloria Austin
TOURING — Carolyn Chapman, practice manager of KVHC, front, gives a tour to guests, from left, Roger Chapman, David Bates of the Houlton Pioneer Times and Brenda Richards of Bangor Savings Bank, of KVHC’s new Community Health Center rooms.
    As of the open house, KVHC has successfully recruited a full-time dentist to start in July.
    Special guest Virginia Manuel, state director of the USDA Rural Development, noted that the communities facility program was one of her favorites.
    “It is one of our greatest programs, as we can really go deep into a community and help fund this kind of building, this kind of service,” she said. “We know in rural Maine, health services are sometimes few and far between, depending on the community. People have to travel great distances in many instances and we try to put our funding into communities that really need the help.”
    Manuel realizes from growing up in and living in Aroostook County for the last nine years that dental services are crucial.
    “They are in huge demand,” she said. “And, that is true for many rural parts of Maine. So, I am really delighted that we could put a 1.8 million dollar guaranteed community funding into this facility.”
    Durward Humphrey, chief executive officer of the Katahdin Valley Health Center, said the true visionaries were those who incorporated KVHC in 1974. Their  vision has guided and positioned this center through trying times and with the passage of landmark health care reform, there are added new layers of challenges and opportunities.
    “If you think the stakes were high in the last 38 years, going into the next decade, they will even be higher,” he said. “As we thought about our risk taking, we realized we can solve some of our common challenges in a new way by not walking down the well-worn path and by sharing risks with our partners, which include the communities and patients we serve. So, KVHC will continue to stretch our goals ensuring stronger growth and a health center infrastructure whereby calculated risk taking [we will] continue to be an enabled force in fulfilling our mission.”
    As Manuel looked around the facility, she was impressed with such an endorsement of KVHC’s vision.
    “We are glad to do whatever we can to really try to help support our communities in Aroostook,” she said. “This [USDA] program is also used to support first-responders — police and fire stations; ambulance; libraries; the Life Flight foundation and more. Why it is important is that it helps our communities be more attractive, sustainable and livable. That is a very big part of our mission.”
Pioneer Times photograph/Gloria Austin
GUEST SPEAKER — Virginia Manuel, state director of the USDA Rural Development, was guest speaker at Katahdin Valley Health Center’s open house for its newly renovated Community Health Center.
    Humphrey said at the heart of KVHC’s mission and vision is the patient’s experience.
    “Ensuring every patient’s health  care experience consists of the right kind of care, at the right time, in the right place, made possible by KVHC’s continued adoption of the latest advances in primary care,” he explained.
    All these decisions must be made in an operating environment that is more demanding and changing more rapidly than ever before, Humphrey explained.
    “Clearly, we have had to be a credible, proven organization that reacts with integrity,” he said. “Patients have to know and understand that we are not only compassionate, but that we know the business of health care and are willing to take the risks and make changes to their benefit.
    “We know it is a different world now and change is inevitable, but woven to KVHC and with all this change and its challenges KVHC will continue to work to adopt ways and programs to clinically and financially manage a defined patient population that stands ready to be accountable for improving patient values measured by cost, quality, but most importantly patient experience,” Humphrey added.
    Humphrey said the “future looks bright and KVHC is well prepared.” He further added, “KVHC is positioned to move boldly forward and serve more patients with the industry’s most advanced health information technology, which will enable KVHC to not only continue to put patients first, but instill confidence in the communities and patients we serve.”
Pioneer Times photograph/Gloria Austin
SPEAKS TO GUESTS — Durward Humphrey, chief executive officer of the Katahdin Valley Health Center, spoke to guests during the open house for KVHC’s new Community Health Center.
    Additionally, KVHC operates an Open Access urgent care facility at 59 Bangor St. in Houlton. KVHC Open Access is a convenient health care alternative when a patient’s regular family physician is closed or they can’t get a timely appointment. Open Access is for non-emergency problems such as sore throats, ear infections, minor burns, or cuts and bruises. More serious injuries or illnesses, such as heart attack and stroke are best treated at an emergency department.
    The KVHC Open Access Clinic is open every day, including weekends and holidays. Persons do not need to be a regular KVHC health care patient; no appointment is necessary. Consumers can just walk in and receive care.