Millinocket facility gets pediatric wing

MILLINOCKET – A $200,000 pediatric wing is being added to a Katahdin Valley Health Center medical clinic under construction that began on Aroostock Avenue this week, center officials said Thursday.

“This new pediatrics center will allow us to better serve our customers by broadening our service offerings to our patients,” KVHC Executive Director Durwood Humphrey said Thursday in a press release. “Our services are available to everyone who needs them, whether they are uninsured, underinsured or insured.”

The wing is the latest addition to a clinic that will feature a primary care medical practice, mental health and substance abuse counseling services, said Gaile Nicholson, KVHC’s marketing director. It also complements dental services provided at a KVHC clinic at 50 Summer St.

The pediatric wing and clinic will help make Millinocket a regional hub for medical services, Town Manager Eugene Conlogue said.

“Pediatrics is usually very needed in most communities, especially rural communities,” Conlogue said Thursday, “and to have a clinic opened in Millinocket will be an asset to this entire area.

“Over the years, I have seen a real need for pediatricians in various areas of the state where I have lived,” he added. “You could almost never have enough of them.”

Construction of the wing is due to be finished by mid-May.

KVHC bought the building on April 15, investing $220,000 in the site to establish its Millinocket primary care facility. KVHC serves 2,250 patients in the Greater Katahdin Region at its Millinocket medical and dental facilities.

KVHC partnered with D&S Engineering of Millinocket, which prepared design plans, and Building Etc. of Houlton, which is the general contractor for this expansion project.

KVHC provides health care services to a population of more than 3,500, serving people in 26 towns, five plantations and 22 unorganized territories throughout southern Aroostook and northern Penobscot counties.