Caribou Mayor Kenneth Murchison recently signed an official proclamation, naming Wednesday, Sept. 30, Prescription Assistance Day. Mayor Murchison completed the ceremonial signing following a presentation to the Caribou City Council, Sept.14, by Vicki Flannery prescription drug assistance coordinator at Pines Health Services in Caribou and Bill Flagg, director of community relations and development at Cary Medical Center.
Contributed photo
Caribou Mayor Kenneth Murchison signed documents proclaiming Wednesday, Sept. 30, as Prescription Assistance Day. Observing the proclamation signature is Vicki Flannery, prescription drug assistance coordinator at Pines Health Services in Caribou.
Pines Health Services now manages the Prescription Assistance Program which, over the past five years, has provided nearly $2 million in free or reduced cost of prescription drugs for patients who meet financial guidelines.
The prescription assistance program was initially established through a grant from the Maine Health Access Foundation. Med Help Maine, a non profit program in Maine, coordinated the initial effort and six pilot programs were selected with Cary Medical Center one of the six programs. Grant funding provided support to establish the program and continue it for two years, at the conclusion of the grant funding, the program was transitioned to Pines Health Services after that facility had achieved Federally Qualified Health Center status.
Vicki Flannery, who has managed the program at Pines over the past two years, said that the activity has dramatically increased over the past year.
“When the program started it was doing about $100,000 per year in support for patients in need of assistance to purchase their prescription medication”, said Flannery, “today we are doing $100,000 per month and growing.”
Pines has also expanded the program to have program coordinators at the St. John Valley Health Center in Van Buren and at the Pines Family Health Center in Presque Isle. “The recent financial downturn has really had an impact on patients in Aroostook County and the prescription assistance program has been a true ‘life saver’ for people in the region said Pines CEO, Jim Davis.
“We know that many people are hurting here in Aroostook County due to the recession,” stated Davis, “the cost of prescription medications continues to increase while people’s need for their medications is on the rise and incomes are on the decline. People are often forced to choose between putting food on the table or putting oil in the tank or purchasing their prescription medications.”
Davis continued, “We also know that many of these medications are critical to the well-being of patients and we are so pleased that people are taking advantage of our assistance program in record numbers. We are also grateful to the pharmaceutical companies who are making the program available to patients in our area.”
Individuals who are on various prescription medications and are finding it difficult to pay for their medicine are encouraged to contact the Prescription Drug Assistance Program in their area.
For more information contact, Tosha Gagnon 868-2796 at the St. John Valley Health Center in Van Buren; Charlene Lento, 769-2025 Pines Family Health Center in Presque Isle; or Vicki Flannery,498-1245, Pines Health Center in Caribou.
