Health news

Free series for family caregivers

BANGOR – St. Joseph HomeCare will continue its free “Family of Caring” series this fall.

These programs are geared toward helping the primary caregiver who is responsible for taking care of adult parents or other family members. Taking care of loved ones can be daunting and exhausting, however, enlisting practical tools can assist in making the experience rewarding as well.

Statistics show that more than 50 million people in the United States are facing the question of how to take care of their aging parents. For many the solution is having the adult parent live with them, setting up an adult son or daughter as caregiver for an adult parent.

St. Joseph HomeCare’s program “Family of Caring” will feature practical information for the caregiver.

The fourth in the “Family of Caring” series will be held 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20, in the Dr. Frank Chapman Conference Room at St. Joseph Hospital.

Topics will include prescription drugs and their safe administration; medication management; how to read a medication label and more.

The program is free and open to the public. Those interested are asked to call 262-1810 to register, but registration is not required.

In addition to the September meeting, programs will be presented in October and November, with topics to be announced.

Outpatient imaging center

BANGOR – Eastern Maine Medical Center has received word that its Certificate of Need application to move outpatient imaging services to the EMMC Healthcare Mall on Union Street has been approved.

The move will benefit not only the tens of thousands of patients currently receiving outpatient imaging services at EMMC’s State Street campus, but other patients as well.

On any given day it is not uncommon for emergency department patients to have extended wait times or to have inpatient discharges delayed because of limited imaging capacity on EMMC’s main campus. Relocation of outpatient imaging services to the EMMC Healthcare Mall on Union Street will help decompress the main campus and reduce the wait times for inpatient and outpatient imaging services.

The creation of an Outpatient Imaging Center will improve patient safety and privacy by providing one coordinated, efficient, modern space.

“We’re so pleased we were able to convince the CON Unit of the worth of this project,” said Deborah Carey Johnson, president and CEO of EMMC. “And we’re grateful for the continued support of our community.”

EMMC provides more than 87,000 imaging outpatient procedures each year in various locations. Sixty-five percent of those – more than 57,000 procedures – could transition to the more accessible outpatient location initially, allowing care providers at State Street to focus more on the needs of hospitalized and emergency patients.

A smaller percentage of outpatients will still receive imaging services at State Street when they also are receiving other services offered only at the main campus.

Johnson said that the medical center’s long-range Master Facility Plan will, over many years, upgrade, modernize and expand EMMC’s inpatient services to meet current and projected growing need.

The approval of the CON clears the way for detailed site design work to continue. The medical center expects the Outpatient Imaging Center to be complete in less than two years.