BANGOR – The Penobscot Community Health Center in Bangor opened in 1997 with 7,000 visits per year. Today, more than 40,000 visits by low-income patients are made annually, and the nonprofit facility is bursting at the stitches.

PCHC’s volunteer board of directors is working to raise $1 million – within the next six months, board members hope – in order to double the space of the 11,000-square-foot health center at 1012 Union St.

Thousands of people seeking medical and dental care at PCHC are now being turned away due to lack of space and equipment, according to the Rev. Bob Carlson, board president.

“Because it’s such a need, people are coming to our doors,” he said.

While many Maine doctor’s offices can lose money by treating Medicare or Medicaid patients, PCHC gets 100 percent reimbursement for the cost of its services from the federal government. Some 70 percent of its patients are low-income, have little or no insurance or are MaineCare or Medicare participants.

The independent facility offers family medical, pediatric and specialist care, as well as mental health services. Its Miles for Smiles dental program has served youths in rural Maine for two years and 3,000 adults currently await dental care at PCHC.

“It’s the biggest dental clinic in Maine,” Carlson said.

Along with allowing the hiring of more practitioners, the $1 million will fund additional dental space and equipment, an in-house pharmacy offering discounted prescription drugs, an electronic medical records system and other renovations, Carlson said. A 15-year lease has already been signed to double the size of the facility, he said.

Serving 26 towns in the Bangor region, the facility was designated a federally qualified health center in 1997 following former Gov. Angus King’s declaration of the area as a “medically underserved population.”

Sunbury Primary Care donated its Bangor medical practice, headed by Dr. Barbara Vereault, to start the center, helped along by a $150,000 grant from St. Joseph Hospital, Carlson said.

Of approximately 40 other federally qualified health centers in the state, PCHC is the largest and anticipates 30,000 patients annually within three years, Carlson said. Initially avoiding publicity to keep up with local demand for low-cost medical care, PCHC now looks to the community to better serve its mission, Carlson said.

“I hope that the best-kept secret of health care in Maine is no longer a secret,” he said.

Cash donations paid over one to three years are welcome, as are one-time donations. For information on the center or on making a donation, contact Ken Schmidt, chief executive officer, at 945-5247, Ext. 401.