Health clinic opens at Aroostook mall

PRESQUE ISLE — The newest addition at the Aroostook Centre Mall resembles the entrance to a country cottage with an old-fashioned-looking wheelbarrow and spring flowers on the porch. But it’s really the first primary health care clinic in Maine to open in an enclosed shopping center.

The Pines Family Health Center, operated by Pines Health Services from Caribou, will offer health care for patients who may reside in the Presque Isle area and prefer the convenience of getting that health care closer to home.

The health service employs doctors who practice at Cary Medical Center in Caribou. Although separate entities, Pines and Cary work closely together.

Decorated in hues of teal and rose, the clinic has six examination rooms, a nurses’ station, a small laboratory where blood may be drawn, conference room and reception area. Patients requiring X-rays will be referred to the Caribou hospital.

The clinic has been taking patients since April 6 and the facility’s physician, Dr. Sheelagh Prosser, is pleased with the initial daily patient load of about 20. In addition, about 10 to 15 pediatric patents are seen daily when pediatricians are staffing the office two days a week.

“I’m happy to be getting the volume now,” Prosser said Saturday during a tour of the clinic. “Right now, our goal is that we get as much time as possible to get to know our patients.”

The new clinic is located in the back yard of Cary’s major competitor, The Aroostook Medical Center of Presque Isle, which has stirred some controversy.

“You have to go where the people go,” Prosser said. She also cited the access to the mall in terms of adequate parking and accessibility for handicapped patients.

At spots throughout the mall Saturday, Pines had free screenings, including for blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and body fat. Other exhibits also were available to shoppers.

“We have been overwhelmed by the positive comments of patients who have visited the Pines Family Health Center,” said Dawn Poitras, marketing director for Pines Health Center, in a prepared statement.

“We could not have asked for a more successful opening,” she said.

In addition to Prosser, the mall clinic will be staffed by three pediatricians from Caribou. Drs. Mehendra Panesar, Mercedes Cruz and Cynthia Masalunga will see the younger patients at the mall.

Five years ago, Cary and TAMC were on the verge of a consolidation. Both hospitals are now in hot competition for the patient dollar. The move to the mall is seen as an effort to maintain and expand the market share of Aroostook County patients.

Cary has about 1,700 patients in the Presque isle area, according to hospital officials.

In negotiating a five-year contract with the mall, Pines was able to obtain an exclusivity clause, which will allow no other health agency to open a clinic there. Although other hospitals and care agencies will be invited to participate in monthly health-related events at the mall, those events will be managed by Pines, according to Pines officials.