Dr. Carl Flynn named Maine’s Family Physician of the Year

    Dr. Carl Flynn, a family practice physician with Pines Health Services and president of the medical staff at Cary Medical Center, has been named the 2009 Maine Family Physician of the Year by the Maine Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP).  The award was presented to Flynn at the MAFP Annual Meeting April 3rd in Bar Harbor.     Jim Davis, chief executive officer for Pines Health Services, said that the recognition for Dr. Flynn was most deserving.
    “Dr. Carl Flynn is an outstanding individual from so many perspectives,” said Davis. “He is a great leader, a compassionate and skilled physician and a generous active community citizen. His leadership has been vital to the growth and development of Pines Health Services for more than a decade. Our entire organization salutes Dr. Flynn for this prestigious recognition and we are so proud to have him as part of our team.”   
    Carl Flynn came to Pines Health Services and Cary Medical Center in July of 1995, after completing his family medicine residency at the Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. He earned his medical degree at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland. He, along with colleague Dr. Timothy Snell, became the first family practice physicians to join the medical staff at Cary Medical Center.   
    Dr. Flynn’s skills as a physician would be tested in a dramatic event in April of 2003, when 16 patients from New Sweden  were intentionally poisoned with arsenic at a church social. He demonstrated such a leadership role in the management of the incident that he and Cary Emergency Department Physician Dr. Dan Harrigan were recognized as “Citizens of the Year” by the Caribou Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
    Dr. Flynn has numerous medical credentials including: instructor in advanced cardiac life support, certification in pediatric advanced life support; certification in advanced trauma life support; neonatal advanced life support provider and he holds national board certification in family medicine in both the United States and Canada.
    Dr. Flynn is also one of the first physicians in the County to become certified in providing Suboxone therapy to help patients struggling with addiction to prescription drugs.   
    Kris Doody, RN, and chief executive officer at Cary Medical Center congratulated Flynn on being named Maine’s Family Physician of the Year and spoke of his unique contributions to the hospital and his community.