MARS HILL, Maine — A celebration that will mark the first half century of a Mars Hill health care facility will feature remarks by a beloved community physician who has been a key figure through all five decades.
The Aroostook Medical Center will hold a 50th anniversary celebration for the Aroostook Health Center (AHC) Friday, Nov. 9, with a social and building tours beginning at 2 p.m., and a special ceremony to mark the milestone following at 3 p.m. The event will include remarks by Dr. Eric Nicholas who was among the first doctors to serve at AHC and who, five decades later, still serves as medical director. TAMC President and Chief Executive Officer Sylvia Getman will also speak at the event.
“The Aroostook Health Center is a wonderful facility that meets a critical need in the central Aroostook community. It is staffed by a dedicated and caring team of professionals who deliver the highest quality care,” said Getman. “As we come together to celebrate the first 50 years of AHC, we will also look forward to the next half century.”
AHC, located on Highland Avenue in Mars Hill, was the first facility north of Bangor to offer extended care. It opened its doors in 1962, first as a nursing home, for more than two decades as a hospital, and now as an intermediate care facility and skilled nursing facility that is part of TAMC.
AHC was born as the result of a 1960 meeting of Mars Hill and Blaine business people who decided there was a need to explore a local hospital in order to ensure physician coverage in the community. Mars Hill had previously been home to two private hospitals that opened in the 1930s.
In the fall of 1962, there was a dedication and open house for the new brick facility with 14-room capacity. It included a doctor’s office and waiting room, kitchen, dining room, laundry, storage areas, and a maintenance area. The health care facility ran as a nursing home for about a year and a half, then was licensed to be a 12-bed hospital and a 12-bed skilled nursing facility (SNF). Later, two acute care beds were relicensed as SNF beds. In 1978, a 50-bed nursing home was built, connected to the hospital.
In 1981, the center consolidated with neighboring A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital to the north to form The Aroostook Medical Center. Later that year, the Grant Building was constructed to provide space for physician’s offices and much needed meeting areas.
In 1986, the 10 acute care beds were de-licensed and the emergency room was closed. Six beds were added to the SNF service. Today the AHC Division of TAMC provides ICF-level care to 55 residents and SNF levels to an additional 15 for a total of 70 occupied beds. The facility employs 110 full- and part-time employees.
Through all of the changes, Dr. Nicholas has been one constant. Nicholas began his career in 1962 at Community General Hospital in nearby Fort Fairfield. In September 1963, less than a year after AHC opened, Nicholas came to work at the Mars Hill facility, and over five decades has become the community’s most well-known and beloved health care provider.
“No one has served the health care needs of this community and certainly of this facility for the past half century like Dr. Nicholas,” said Kelly Lundeen, AHC administrator. “He is a legend in Mars Hill and will certainly have some great stories to tell about this facility at our celebration on Friday as he has been such an integral part of its history since almost the very beginning.”
Nicholas, who retired from his private practice in September 2007, continues to serve as medical director at AHC and to see patients at the Maine Veteran’s Home in Caribou and Presque Isle Nursing Home. He also continues to serve as the school physician for SAD 42 in Mars Hill, a position he has held since 1964. He additionally served as a medical examiner for more than 40 years.
Nicholas is a lifetime member of the American Medical Association, and a member of the Maine Medical Association, the Aroostook County Medical Society, and the American Medical Directors Association. In September of this year, Dr. Nicholas was recognized by the Maine Medical Association for 50 years of service to his profession with a 50-year pin at the organization’s annual conference in Bar Harbor.
He serves as a member of the Mars Hill Rotary Club, Friends Helping Friends organization, and as a volunteer with the Pregnancy Care Center, Ronald McDonald House in Bangor, and the Community Cupboard. He is also very active in the East Ridge Union Church in Mars Hill.
Nicholas was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia and grew up in the Halifax area. He graduated from Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia and Dalhousie Medical School in Halifax in 1962.
He is married to Georgia Gardiner Nicholas and the couple has four married children, Camilla Snowman and her husband, Dana, of Alton, Chas Nicholas and his wife, Elisa, of Naples, Chris Nicholas and his wife, Kristie, of Mars Hill, and Cathy Davis and her husband, Bion, of Debary, Fla. Dr. and Mrs. Nicholas have five grandchildren, Annika, Stetson, Bryce, Blaine and Braxton.
Community members are encouraged to attend the special ceremony. For more information, contact Rhonda Orser at AHC at 768-4915.
