TAMC’s Health Center Week activities continue

     PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — TAMC’s weeklong celebration to mark National Health Center Week got off to a great start Monday. Due in part to the great weather, more than 250 people attended the first of five regional open house events at North Street Healthcare, site of the Walk-in Clinic/Aroostook Pediatrics/Family Practice and Internal Medicine.
    Each open house will offer free refreshments, facility tours, free health screenings and giveaways, including a chance to win a free limited time pass to County Physical Therapy. The WOW (Wintergreen on Wheels)/TAMC in Your Town Wagon will be on-location at each site with an art activity to engage children of all ages. A bounce house, sponsored in part by Grand Rental Station, will also be at each location, weather permitting. In addition, special presentations led by TAMC providers are being planned at some of the locations.
    “This is an ideal opportunity for us to say thank you to the communities we serve throughout the region and to celebrate the wonderful care and innovative work the folks at all of our health centers are engaged in to ensure that care is centered around the patient,” said Sylvia Getman, TAMC president and CEO. “Our health centers are vitally important resources to the people and the communities we serve. We offer a range of services at each location to ensure that we are providing the right care, at the right place, at the right time.”
    In recent months, all TAMC health centers have adopted a new approach to care referred to as “medical home.” The model involves the use of a team of health professionals who work together to provide a new, expanded type of care to patients.
    “Having a ‘medical home’ feels like having an old-style, family doctor, but with a team of professionals, using modern knowledge and technology, to provide the best possible care for you,” said Dottie Wheeler, TAMC director of Primary Care/Patient Centered Medical Home. “Caring about you — the patient — is the most important job of a medical home. The care is much more personal and it is the team’s job to make sure you get the health care you need. National Health Center Week and the open house events we have planned are perfect opportunities to celebrate our efforts under this new model.”
    Three additional open houses are set for the rest of this week:
• Caribou – Wednesday, Aug. 14, 3-5 p.m., TAMC’s Caribou Health Center/County Physical Therapy, Caribou Shopping Plaza, 118 Bennett Drive.
• Ashland – Thursday, Aug. 15, 4-6 p.m., TAMC’s Ashland Health Center, 33 Walker St.
• Mars Hill – Friday, Aug. 16, 2-4 p.m., TAMC’s Mars Hill Health Center/Mars Hill Pharmacy, 106 Main St.
    An open house event was also held Tuesday in Fort Fairfield.
    For more information on TAMC Health Center Week activities, call 768-4044.