Staff Writer
FORT FAIRFIELD – A decision made earlier this year by officials at The Aroostook Medical Center to close the Fort Fairfield Health Center has been reversed indefinitely, following talks with town representatives concerned over what the loss of the facility would mean to residents in the area. “It’s good news, from our point of view,” said Dave Peterson, TAMC’s president and CEO.
Peterson said the argument for combining the rural centers under one roof at one location in Presque Isle were “fairly strong.”
“But support for keeping it there (the Health Center in Fort Fairfield) and the rationale involved were compelling,” added Peterson. “There are upwards of 6,000 people who use it in the course of a year.”
According to Peterson, a Citizens Advisory Committee stepped forward, asking what could be done to maintain service at the Fort location.
“At the management level, the board planned to combine services. We’re looking to reverse that portion of the plan,” following recent conversations with town officials, said Peterson.
Town Manager Dan Foster was pleased with the hospital’s decision to keep the health care facility open in his community.
“We have a lot going on in Fort Fairfield – wind energy, the U.S. Border Patrol expansion, businesses. It’s important to maintain a health facility, schools and keep everyone happy in the process,” said Foster.
Foster credited the Town Council with continually looking for ways to make the community a better place.
“The Council is great, very forward thinking,” said Foster, noting citizens weren’t ready to call it quits on a facility they’d worked so hard to create nearly 60 years ago.
“We have a 50,000 square foot building, in the middle of town, that TAMC only uses a portion of. It was created for the citizens of Fort – built in 1949 by the citizens, for the citizens. There are still people that remember that, who talk about how hard they worked to get it. We have to find a good, functional use for it,” said Foster.
Foster said he understood TAMC’s reasons for initially planning to close the Health Center and that there was no ill will between the community and the hospital.
“In fairness to them (hospital officials), they have stimuli forcing them to do things beyond their control,” said Foster. “We’ve had two meetings with TAMC; I’m sure we’ll have more.”
The town plans to continue looking for ways to utilize the building, said Foster.
“In the meantime, TAMC has agreed to postpone closing the clinic for now,” Foster said.
Part of the reason for the change of heart is the fact the facility has a doctor that wants to continue working with members of the community. Another reason is the degree of hardship closure would have created for some citizens.
“Dr. Fowler has been here a long time and agreed to stay. It also would have created a hardship for many in the community who do not have a vehicle. We needed to find a way to deal with such individuals. TAMC has been very receptive to that,” said Foster.
Foster said senior citizens were especially pleased with the news.
“A lot of elderly are absolutely ecstatic. They were concerned how they’d get their health care – didn’t have a way to travel to Presque Isle or couldn’t afford to do so,” said Foster.
Peterson said Fowler’s decision to stay on was a big part of the equation to keep the facility open.
“We’ve had difficulty finding and maintaining staff at the centers around the County. Most (doctors) want to work in a campus setting. Dr. Fowler is interested in continuing. He’s been there a long time,” said Peterson. “Most evidence, however, indicates (doctors like Fowler) are a dying breed.”
It’s been TAMC’s goal to bring primary care as close to home as possible, said Peterson.
“When I meet with the board, I’ll advise them we owe it to the community to put it (closure of the Fort Health Center) on indefinite hold,” said Peterson. “We’re definitely remaining open for the foreseeable future.”
Peterson said TAMC and town officials will continue to work together to find alternative uses for the building as well. While an engineer determined the building had a number of issues that needed to be addressed to continue using the entire structure for a medical facility, Peterson said the building could still be used for other purposes.
“We’re working with the community – working on ways to supplement use, use other parts of the building to help support the practice. We had a team of engineers look at the facility. A number of changes needed to be made to meet a number of uses – electrical, water, sewer, heating, air conditioning,” said Peterson. “It still has potential. We’re interested in hearing from anyone looking to make use of the space, but we’re looking internally first.”
Outpatient mental health services once performed at the Fort facility will be moving to TAMC in the near future.
“That will likely happen by the first of September; we’re just awaiting DHS inspection,” said Peterson. “But we’re happy to say the Health Center will remain open for now.”
