St. Francis to get health center Elderly residents will benefit from facility located closer to home

ST. FRANCIS – It’s been nearly 25 years since St. Francis and Allagash have had a health clinic to service the western end of the St. John Valley.

Now it’s just a matter of time before the U.S. Department of Agriculture releases the money from a $15,000 grant from its Rural Development Agency and construction can start.

The $15,000 grant was announced Wednesday by Rep. John Baldacci for the St. Francis Development Corp. The corporation will use the money for the renovation of two apartments to house a doctor and his offices.

The St. Francis Development Corp. operates a 27-unit low-income housing project off Church Road in St. Francis. The proposal is to use two empty units in the project to house the health center.

The Northern Maine Medical Center at Fort Kent will provide the services of Charles Albert, a physician’s assistant, for medical services at the center. The hospital will also provide office support staff for the facility.

“We are planning to do it this year, hoping to get started as soon as we get a release of the funds,” Charles Ouellette, president of the corporation and first selectman at St. Francis, said Wednesday. “It’s going to be a center like we had in the past, about 25 years ago.

“We have a lot of elderly people in St. Francis, Allagash and St. John,” Ouellette said. “Many don’t have the transportation needed to get to a health facility at Fort Kent.”

Ouellette said the center will be named the St. Francis-Allagash Health Center. Albert’s services will be offered one day a week to start. Ouellette said the number of hours Albert is at the health center could increase if the need arises.

He said residents will be able to get blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar testing done at the site.

The town and the medical center have been working on the project for about one year, Ouellette said. The grant will allow for the renovation of the two apartments. The hospital will furnish the facility with needed equipment.

The project will cost about $30,000. The remaining $15,000 will come from local taxpayers, Ouellette said. He plans to hold a special town meeting to get the needed money in the near future.

Ouellette hopes that Allagash will assist with the local costs.

Ouellette and hospital officials hope that services can be started by mid-fall. Renovations should be done quickly, Ouellette said. They already have prices for materials and labor for the project.