HOULTON — The Houlton Rotary Club was treated to a presentation about The Aroostook Medical Center by Sylvia Getman, President of the “More Than a Hospital.”
To provide care to the residents of Northern Maine, TAMC’s goal is to meet the needs of the people and provide improvements as medicine and technology change, according to Getman. TAMC is always examining changes and analyzing their position in this process to provide quality care. TAMC’s vision is “to be the best rural healthcare organization in America”.
Sylvia Getman
Anyone who has been a patient of TAMC cannot help but notice this vision. The staff seems to be well versed in the mission “to improve, maintain, and restore the health of our friends and neighbors in a professional and compassionate environment.”
The hospital was founded in 1912 and became a member of EMHS in 1999. TAMC is the largest employer in Aroostook County with 1,011 employees. Sixty-three physicians serve the organization and there are ten facilities in Aroostook County. Getman spoke about the many specialty services provided such as dialysis, cancer care, cardiology, surgical podiatry, acute inpatient rehab, outpatient specialty clinics, eye care and other special procedures.
In terms of quality, TAMC was recognized as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures by the Joint commission in 2014 and also received a 98.9 percent score on the accountability composite rate. There is a vast commitment to community in TAMC’s collaboration with numerous organizations locally and regionally such as higher education, ACAP’s Healthy Aroostook Program, Aroostook Autism Support Group, United Way of Aroostook, food panties, free flu shots, the youth ski program, Dolly’s Imagination Library as well as road races and triathlons.
The six pillars of excellence serving as the foundation of TAMC’s vision are people, service, quality, finance, growth and community. This sounds a bit like Rotary’s efforts in the community.
The youth exchange program for Houlton Rotary also had two representatives present at Monday’s meeting.
Keegan Fitzpatrick brought his Rotary sponsored exchange student from the Netherlands Max Buckers. Fitzpatrick will be visiting Max’s family in the Netherlands for 3 weeks just prior to attending college in Boston.
