Maine District Court House, Church St., Belfast & Me
6/3/2016
auntiebully • 8 minutes ago
Today I rushed through several of my blogs to get this blog as a reference for my comment today the Bangor Daily News article on Congress Street, Belfast, Maine 04915. Below are letters linking a plan much bigger than Congress Street and Belfast. Portland, Brunswick, Rockland, Belfast, Bucksport to Bangor right up to the Department of Defense and MaineHealth takeover collaboration.
In Belfast, a sweeping secret Comprehensive Plan (20 years in the making) was voted through via "A Binder" by Belfast City Council in 2014. Still unknown to the public and amendments to unknowns are ongoing. Belfast City Hall tells the public to come into City Hall for information to ordinances and zoning. Manipulating public information, stating they are not credible and subject to City attorney interpretation. Real estate listings state "See Town" avoiding disclosure of hell. Loophole Ordinances with intentional confusing language written by the very same City Attorney and also a real estate agent. With Worth Real Estate (District Court Judge Patricia Worth and John III) What could be corrupt about that? EVERYTHING.
Congress Street is seeing the taking that is underway throughout Belfast. Shock and awe, take before they wake. People have to organize with independent committee's in every town, yesterday. Please begin Moral Monday's type grassroots.
www. moralmonday.blogspot.com Email me laurieallen55@msn.com
http://bangordailynews.com/2016/06/02/news/midcoast/fate-of-old-waldo-county-jailers-house-remains-uncertain/
Lily Piel, who lives on Congress Street, said in the meeting held at the Waldo County Emergency Management Agency building. “I want to know how this decision is going to be made and when it is going to be made. I don’t even understand how these decisions get made, but it seems like it’s out of our hands.”
Paula Johnson, who lives close to the jailer’s house, said the county deceived taxpayers with its past actions and she did not want to see this building demolished.
“Several redevelopment options have previously been considered,” read a certified letter sent to neighbors of the property in late May by Congress Street Hill Property LLC, the county-controlled redevelopment corporation...
Shorey told meeting attendees that no decisions had been made yet, but suggested the county might turn the house lot into a small park if it is torn down."
*****
A.
Page linking Belfast Mobstah Lobstah's Judge Patricia & John Worth III, Restorative Justice Chair Jay Davis, Chief McFadden, City Council Mike Hurley, Worth Real Estate and agents , etc.(with a lot of personal bullying by the Mobstah to my children and me) Maine statutes for economic takings. Scary information
http://boycottbelfast.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_41.html
http://boycottbelfast.blogspot.com/p/maine-municipalities-especially-smaller.html
http://www.rudmanwinchell.com/municipal-eminent-domain-authority/
LEARN ABOUT: Municipal eminent domain authority
By Rudman Winchell Attorney
By: Rudman Winchell Attorney Erik M. Stumpfel
Disclaimer
These materials have been prepared by Rudman Winchell for educational purposes only. They should not be considered legal advice. The transmission of this information to you is not intended to create a lawyer-client relationship. Readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. You should not send any confidential or private information to Rudman Winchell until a formal attorney-client relationship has been established, in writing.
... Section 5204 prescribes procedures for municipal takings under the community development statute. These procedures are similar to, but not identical with, the procedures prescribed under Title 23 for local highway takings. Most significantly, community development takings under sec. 5204 are not subject to the limitations contained in 30-A MRSA sec. 3101 for other non-highway municipal takings.
Specifically, a municipality may use the community development statute to acquire owner-occupied residential property, even if the owner does not consent, and use of property taken by the municipality is not restricted to the specific use for which it was taken.
However, if the municipality disposes of unrehabilitated property acquired by eminent domain under the community development statute within ten years after its acquisition, 30-A MRSA sec. 5203(3)(E) normally requires the municipality to offer the original owners an opportunity to re-purchase the property for the amount of the original damages award. The statute makes an exception for properties that were acquired for assembly into a larger parcel consisting of what were originally three or more contiguous lots.
Municipal Development District Statute – 30-A MRSA sec. 5223(4)
This statute allows municipalities to designate "development districts" within their municipal boundaries that meet certain statutory criteria under section 5223(3). Within these districts, municipalities may acquire land or easements pursuant to an approved development program, by purchase or eminent domain. If eminent domain is used, section 5223(4) incorporates the eminent domain procedures of the community development statute, in section 5204.
Municipal Revenue-Producing Facilities Act – 30-A MRSA sec. 5403(6)
This statute authorizes municipal eminent domain acquisition of "land, rights in land or water or air rights in connection with the construction, reconstruction, improvement, extension, enlargement or operation of revenue-producing municipality facilities." "Revenue-producing municipal facilities" include parking facilities; water systems; sewer systems; airports; telecommunications systems; and energy facilities. Of these, only parking facilities must be located entirely within the corporate limits of the municipality. The other types of facilities listed may extend beyond the municipal boundaries...
B.
In the 6/2/2016 local paper, Republican Journal/Village Soup, CM Slocum is beginning the public manipulation with Waldo County Commissioners "possible" collaboration (as if recent, NOT).
http://waldo.villagesoup.com/p/letters-june-2/1529019
Thank
you, Waldo County
Last
summer I met with the Waldo County Commissioners to discuss the
possibility of the county making an investment in economic
development. This has not been a traditional function of Waldo
County...
Joe
Slocum
City
Manager, Belfast
C.
In the 5/31/2016 Bangor Daily News article is the state of Maine in collaboration with Waldo County and Belfast City Hall for judicial developments.
http://bangordailynews.com/2016/05/31/news/midcoast/state-plans-17-million-courthouse-project-in-belfast/
Lynch
said the state is planning to construct a new, $17 million combined
court building to replace the Waldo County Superior Courthouse, built
in 1853, and the Belfast District Court, built in 1930. If that
happens, Maine will return both buildings to the sole use of Waldo
County, which owns them.
..
The
Maine Judicial Branch will be issuing a request for information about
property this summer. Lynch said the state already has considered and
rejected the former Crosby High School, a large downtown structure
that is for sale. Among other things, the judicial branch is looking
for a fully useable, developed site of 1.75 acres, a building
footprint area of 13,350 square feet, setbacks adequate to protect
the building and occupants against external security threats, public
parking for 69 cars and prominent visibility of the building entrance
from a main public street.
Once
completed, the new or renovated building would include three
courtrooms; a modern design that allows separate circulation routes
for the public, jurors, court staff and incarcerated defendants;
secure holding facilities; and an entry screening area for all public
visitors.
According
to the judicial branch, the project architect will be hired this
July, the design will be completed by January 2017 and construction
will be completed by June 2018.
Marshall
said the tight timeline could complicate efforts to renovate the
existing superior court house. To do that renovation and expansion,
the state likely would need to acquire nearby buildings including
Duval Auto Services and the American Legion Hall. Market Street also
would have be moved over to accommodate the expansion...
D.
In the 4/22/2008 Bangor Daily News article is Belfast City Manager Joe Slocum "proposing" the several Public Works properties on Congress Street would move to a new site. No doubt, that announcement will be this year- 2016. Falling in line with the County and State. Shock and awe with all other plans that they have been secretly devising for 20 years through the State initiated Comprehensive Plans. The TPP of Maine, Economic/Healthcare/Defense Genocide to 99%
https://archive.bangordailynews.com/2008/04/22/belfast-manager-urges-holding-line-on-taxes/
Another
recommendation was that the council begin looking at the eventuality
of having to build a new public works garage. He said the existing
garage and yard are too small for the amount of equipment the city
has and suggested that the Congress Street site would be more
suitable for work force housing...
E. MaineHealth/State/Department of Defense TAKE OVER
Above all falling in line with the County and State. Shock and awe with all other plans that they have been secretly devising for 20 years through the State initiated Comprehensive Plans. The TPP of Maine, Economic/Healthcare/Defense Genocide to 99%
Bangor,
like many other well meaning communities, will follow the same path.
1)
Employ for true high risk situations 1 or 2 times per year
2)
With such a low deployment for true high risk issues, start upping
the numbers for less important law enforcement duties such as "no
knock" search warrents
3)
With an ever increasing "need" to deploy the vehicle,
request additional funds for vehicle maintenance and offer overtime.
4)
After a year or so the next "logical" argument will be for
improved police firepower and military gear ... after all why have a
200K vehicle if the officers don't have the proper individual
equipment
5)
If Bangor has a need than surely Old Town will have a need in a few
years and the cycle continues.
But
nothing to worrie about Bangor, just remember they came for the Jews
first but most Germans didn't worrie because they weren't Jewish.
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Provocative
and dangerous Zumwalt 'stealth' destroyer made at Bath Iron
Works in Maine will be 'christened' on June 18. Protest planned
at BIW from 9am to noon.
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Portland
Police Chief Michael Sauschuck announced the delivery today of a
state-of-the-art armored rescue vehicle, a Lenco BearCat. If the
zombie apocalypse hits Portland anytime soon, I would not want to be
the zombies.
This
thing has thermal imaging capability, as well as chemical,
biological, radioactive and explosive detection system, according to
a city announcement.
"Steve
Levesque, executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment
Authority, stands behind U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud as officials
celebrated the unveiling of TechPlace, a manufacturing incubator on
the former U.S. ..."For the big business program, Levesque said
he hopes it might entice an Airbus or Boeing to find a home at
Brunswick Landing, where he still has hangars to fill, but it also
could support projects elsewhere."
"A
bill that became law March 30 allows the Finance Authority of Maine
to launch the Maine Capital Investment Fund, which can finance major
business expansions after the fund amasses at least $50 million from
investors... to put together the first deal with an undisclosed
company at the former U.S. Navy base, Brunswick Landing... For
investors with Maine tax liability, there are limits on how much they
can receive in each year while investors with no Maine tax liability
can get a rebate, if invested through a qualified private venture
fund, such as Micro Cap..." Panama Files USA made.
Gov.
LePage and AG Janet Mills using the addicted to build the
system...Department of Defense supplying the arms for the system to
protect themselves...
And
elsewhere in Belfast, airport, harbor, healthcare, Sweetser to Sequel
to Judge to prison care. Restorative Justice Program for after care
med care. In collaboration with the Department of Defense. Non
profits for profit. They are on the take, this is our wake. Lie down
or stand up with me.
4/22/2016
Thank
you all who care to know. I'll continue protesting,
weather/appointment permitting in front of Waldo County General
Hospital, Northport Ave., Belfast 04915. 11:30ish to 12:30ish. Hand
high, 4 Fingers Up. Unknown ordinances and zoning that have been
voted through since 9/2014 are not read to the public at the City
Council votes. They continue to amend and pass unknowns. Prior
corrupt City Council Roger Lee (and attorney) recently requested City
Planner Wayne Marshall to provide written ordinances to challenge a
neighbor. The language is purposely confusing for City Attorney
interpretation and manipulation. Except for a prior City Council
attorney that had a heavy hand in drafting the plans to break and
take and members of the corrupt club. With collaboration of the
State, Department of Defense, FEMA- dangerous direct links to Belfast
below. Master plans of manipulation and "urgency",
corrupt as hell. Spin the public, get it done. MaineHealth, Federal
agencies, airport, harbor, targeted private properties, communities,
many towns/cities link below.
I
have been relentless for the official zoning map that was "proposed"
in many public hearings in the summer of 2014. Real estate listings
in the old R2 zone (proposed to merge with R1) prove corruption and
endless emails to City Manager Joe Slocum, City Council, real estate
agents, and Realtor Commission. Forcing another manipulation
to zoning maps on the City website updated on 3/7/2016 STATING "Map
through May 5, 2015"
Meaning, absolutely not current or credible. Stating to call
City Planner Wayne Marshall to be denied official zoning off the
record. Below was copied from the City website today, 4/22/2016.
http://www.cityofbelfast.org/Search/Results?searchPhrase=zoning%20map&page=1&perPage=10
Updated:3/7/2016
Independent
Oversight Committee's "urgency". Moral Mondays
meetings needed immediately. Call me, Laurie Allen, 207-218-1125 (or
email beheard.me55@gmail.com) to begin meetings Belfast City Park
Pavilion, 6pm, weather permitting. Leave a message and I'll call back
ASAP. http://moralmonday.blogspot.com/
4/21/2016
Maine
Health in collaboration with the Department of Defense continues
assault on independent agencies and private practices. Shut down take
over. Full access to records of your "wellness" as
diagnosed by Maine Health in collaboration with DoD. We have
been watching in horror as groups homes, group businesses for the
disabled, mental health support agencies, addiction support agencies,
private practices are closing like the devil. Indeed. White, Pink and
Blue Collars in place, prepared and take. Local to Augusta to
Department of Defense.
Maine
Governor LePage, DHHS and Attorney General Janet Mills cutting
services to the many made vulnerable and unhealthy by the system.
Looking to increase prison with victim patients. Those avoiding
prison, will be sent Maine Health contractors Sequel and Sweetser in
collaboration with other contractors, drug/insurance companies,
facilities, Restorative Justice Programs and their contractors... the
network is massive. Linking in local to State for profit players from
the non profits. Follow the Mobstah Lobstah's profiting from Portland
to Brunswick to Belfast to Bucksport to Bangor (surely beyond but out
of my scope) to Castine to Augusta to Federal. Under the umbrella of
the Department of Defense, MaineHealth, DHHS, Maine Maritime Academy,
Belfast's very own and very many. Many listed below and on
www.boycottbelfast.blogspot.com.
Six
years and still adding, because they thought that could take my life
too. I don't think so.
Yesterday,
4/20/16, The Republican Journal reported more MaineHealth taking to
profit Sequel and network Mobstah Lobstahs.
Three
home health agencies to combine May 1
Saco
— Three home health and hospice agencies serving the needs of
Maine residents will come together May 1 to form a unified
organization with a new name, according to a press release from
MaineHealth. HomeHealth Visiting Nurses, Kno-Wal-Lin Home Care and
Hospice and Waldo County Home Care and Hospice will join together to
become MaineHealth Care at Home, offering clinical services in
Cumberland, York, Lincoln, Waldo, Knox and southern Oxford counties.
The
demand for home care and hospice services in Maine remains strong,
the release says. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Maine has the
highest median age of any state, and ranks third in the share of the
population over age 65. In addition, more than half of Mainers are
living with a chronic illness, such as cancer, diabetes or asthma.
As
a member of MaineHealth, Northern New England’s largest
not-for-profit integrated health system, MaineHealth Care at Home
will continue to provide a full range of services to patients with
the same staffs of nurses, rehabilitation therapists, home health
aides and social workers employed in their local communities.
Services include home health care, private-duty home care, palliative
care, rehabilitative therapies, pediatric home health care services,
telehealth, and community health and wellness throughout the service
area. MaineHealth Care at Home hospice services will be provided in
Knox, Waldo and Lincoln counties, and at Sussman House at the Pen Bay
Medical Center in Rockland.
For
more information, call 800-660-4867.
https://www.mainehealth.org/
A
nonprofit corporation...
Education,
Counseling and Support
SequelCare
of Maine is made up of two divisions which are Behavioral Health and
Home Health. Our statewide services are provided out of three
regional offices in Belfast, Brewer, and Yarmouth Maine.
Judy
Seals
Executive
Director
SequelCare
of Maine
Ms.
Seals, Executive Director of SequelCare of
Iowa
started her career in the human services field over 20 years ago.
Prior to joining Sequel Youth and Family Services in 2000, Ms Seals
worked for Polk County Detention in the Centralized Intake Center. As
the Community Liaison for the Intake Center; Ms.
Seals was responsible for developing an assessment and referral
process to meet the needs of juveniles coming into contact with law
enforcement agencies with the goal of connecting these youth to
community-based services.
(more
on Ms. Seals program at Polk County below)
Maine
Health took over control of your well being and assets.
4/19/2016
BUCKSPORT,
Maine — The Maine Maritime Academy has reached a preliminary
agreement to acquire approximately six acres at the former Verso
paper mill site in Bucksport, a school official said Tuesday.
MMA
is “in the early stages” of establishing a safety and offshore
survival institute at the site, MMA President William J. Brennan
acknowledged late Tuesday afternoon when contacted by the BDN...
I
was alarmed to read that Maine Health in 2011 announced collaboration
with the Department of Defense. Maine Health in Belfast has Belfast
resident WCGH board members John Worth III (wife is Judge Patricia
Worth) heavily connected to MMA and real estate, with JB Turner-
President of Front Street Shipyard Belfast and Bucksport. Belfast
City Manager Joe Slocum was the town manager in Castine (MMA) prior
to 2007. More BS links in ""MMA is “in the early stages”
of establishing a safety and offshore survival institute at the site"
Belfast Harbor Master Kathy Pickering and Belfast Police Chief Mike
McFadden pursued a Homeland Security Harbor grant tonight at the City
Council meeting. Who profits? Endless list at our expense. Freedom of
information denied. Department of Defense deems highly sensitive to
national greed security.
4/19/2016
The
Bangor Daily News and Free Press reporting of Belfast vs. Rockland is
night and day. Belfast gets protection. Hopefully this piece is not
the turning of the tide for Rockland reporting.
I
support the excellent reporter's on www.democracynow.org that
used to air on Belfast local BCTV cable. Along with The Issue,
Ted,etc. As of 1/2016, DN was removed. Thankful that I can watch
Deomcracy Now every day for one hour of global truth on the internet
every day. Excellent journalism and incredible credible supporting
interviews. I never knew the tainting of main stream news till I
watched DN in 2014 for the first time. Corruption Validation !!!!!!!
BDN
would not post my letter on Belfast zoning corruption, it met all the
rules. George Danby called me and we spoke at length about Belfast
corruption. He said he would put the letter in and never did. He back
peddled and said he "may" and decided not to. Free Press
didn't put it in either. BDN local reporter Abbie Curtis refuses to
report any of my proven Belfast City Hall/real estate corruption or
protests. Only pieces that promote Belfast. It isn't right. Belfast
and Rockland have linking partners in crime. It's less than a matter
of time. It's now.
Laurie
Allen
_________________
www.wcgh.org
› About Us
Mark
Biscone, CPA, FACHE President & Chief Executive Officer, Pen
Bay Medical Center and Waldo County General Hospital Email:
mbiscone@wchi.org
Mark
Biscone, the little cheese doing the squeeze.
CEO
MARK Biscone profits big time. "Thoughtful approach"
to poach. Take and break systematized.
Rat
"Worth"y. Judge Patricia Worth and Hospital Board husband,
heavily connected sea and land real estate John Worth III "Supreme
Leader for Life".
Posted
by: Ingrid Van Steenberg | Apr 17, 2016 18:04
It's
rather cheeky to cry poor, Mr. Biscone, when according to Guidestar,
your compensation was $438,899 for the period of 10/1/13 to 9/30/14.
William Caron, who doesn't even rate a title on the tax return other
than "MaineHealth," earned $1,113,928 for the same time
period. And how does that compare to what the President of the
United States get paid? It's more. A lot more.
Maine
Blackwater Health System
Department
of Defense link model Blackwater to Maine Health System to Maine DHHS
to Alexander Group. Contract out services to Sweetser, Sequel and
Restorative Justice Detention. Via connected Judge. Layer
accountability. These "sudden" closure are only
"sudden" to the public
Academi
(then Blackwater USA) was one of five companies picked in September
2007 by the
Department
of Defense Counter-Narcotics Technology Program Office in a
five-year contract for equipment, material and services in support of
counter-narcotics activities.
2002–2007: Blackwater Security Company
Jeremy Scahill has claimed that Blackwater Security Company (BSC) was
the brainchild of Jamie Smith, a former CIA officer who became Vice
President of Blackwater USA and the Founding Director of Blackwater
Security Company, holding both positions simultaneously.
[18] However,
this claim is denied by Prince and Blackwater executive Gary Jackson
who describe firing Smith from his position as a low-level
administrator for "non-performance" after a 30 day
contract. Additionally, Smith has been accused of further
embellishing his military and contracting record to defraud investors
at
SCG
International Risk[19]
1997: Blackwater USA
Blackwater USA was formed in 1997, by Al Clark
[12] and
Erik Prince in
North
Carolina, to provide training support to military and law
enforcement organizations. In explaining Blackwater's purpose, Prince
stated: "We are trying to do for the national security apparatus
what
FedEx did
for the Postal Service".
[13] After
working with
SEAL and
SWAT teams,
Blackwater USA received its first government contract after
the
bombing
of the USS Cole off of the coast of
Yemen in
October 2000. After winning the bid on the contract, Jamie Smith ran
the program at Blackwater that trained over 100,000 sailors.
[14]
1. Begin
link Feds to State
Link Maine Health to
Department of Defense
MaineHealth
Selected as Innovation Partner in
National High-Value Health
Collaborative Health
systems and Department of Defense join collaborative to share data on
outcomes,
quality and costs across range of costly conditions and
treatments
PORTLAND, Maine - May
17, 2011- MaineHealth, the state's largest integrated healthcare
system, announced its selection as an innovation partner in the
High-Value Health Collaborative formed by Mayo Clinic, Denver Health,
Intermountain Healthcare, Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Cleveland Clinic and
The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. The
collaborative will determine best practices for delivering healthcare
and rapidly disseminate actionable recommendations to providers and
health systems across the United States. In addition to achieving
better quality and outcomes, the collaborative intends to improve the
efficiency of standard clinical care delivery to reduce the per
capita cost and to keep costs in pace with the consumer price index.
2. Link
Defense tactics- Shock and Awe/Rapid Dominance
Defense
tactics- Shock and Awe/Rapid Dominance-Maine Legislature & DHHS
"announcement" of cuts to Mental services. Facilities
closing immediately without PUBLIC notice through out the State.
Clear planning to all private parties since Defense Dept.
Collaboration announced in 2011.
2a.Comment
links DHHS to Feds and Alexander Group. Contract out services. Layer
accountability. These "sudden" closure are only
"sudden" to the public
The DHHS commissioner
"Is doing a heck of a job". The Guv defends the
department's handling of all issues, and praised Mary Mayhew.
Commissioner Mary Mayhew, was even honored by the state’s
pre-eminent conservative think tank, the Maine Heritage Policy
Center. You do not get a better endorsement than that.
She even hired a
million dollar consultant, the Alexander Group, to help redesign
Medicaid programs and get more flexibility from the federal
government. Again, "Heck of a Job", Mary
2b.
Shock Lock Out Belfast Group Home and Apparel. Link law firm Eaton
Peabody (Brunswick, Bangor, Augusta, Ellsworth,
Portland http://www.eatonpeabody.com/ ),
through out corruption links I have uncovered for the past 6 years.
Belfast City Manager Joe Slocum (attorney with links) continually
lies and denies. 20 years in the making with massive unknowns
to the public through the secret TPP aka Comprehensive Plan 2014.
Healthcare
assault underway in Belfast since 2007, full throttle 2016. Eaton Peabody now the taking facilitator. Branching out to consulting to link Maine Mayor's together to get their wants heard in Augusta. Especially those in the MaineHealth/Dept. of Defense coalition. Eaton also will help get your construction project underway though their connections.
Sadly. I know one of the partners from Eaton Peabody. Judy Metcalf, we shared summers in Bayside since we were kids. I had sent her an email asking her for help before I knew she was connected. She never responded. I sent her another one asking for a referral for a woman's advocate attorney. She never responded. Very sad indeed. Sold out women, integrity and the Irish. Tsk, tsk.
BELFAST, Maine —
Financial difficulties have caused a Belfast apparel factory which
employed people with disabilities to suspend manufacturing, casting
about 70 people out of work.
Group
Home Foundation, the nonprofit organization that runs Little
River Apparel, also will be shutting down a downtown Belfast house
that has been the home for a dozen people with cognitive
disabilities...
The foundation is
searching for alternative housing for the residents.
“My understanding
is they’re going to be in the general area,” Nickerson
said. “We don’t want to upset these people’s lives.”
...Nickerson, of Group
Home Foundation, did not return several voicemail requests for
comment.
An email circulated by
Councilor Mike Hurley from Group Home Foundation's human resources
director said the organization was directing all questions to
Bruce Hochman, an attorney at Eaton Peabody in Portland.
Hochman did not
immediately respond to multiple voicemail messages left Friday, Feb.
12.
2c. Shock
lock out to Merrymeeting Behavioral in Brunswick. "Rapid
Response Team" to sign privacy files over to Sequel. Linking to
Sweetser. "Pushing for residential" Which will be Sweetser
or Restorative Justice Program/Detention Center. Betting Eaton
Peabody is the law firm too.
...Late last week,
several Merrymeeting Behavioral Health Associates clients or their
families were summoned to the company’s Pleasant Street
headquarters to sign confidentiality waivers that would allow
Merrymeeting Behavioral Health Associates to share their records with
SequelCare of Maine, a for-profit company that provides behavioral
health services as well as home- and community-based treatment,
community support services, outpatient mental health, community
integration services and daily living support.
Breen said Monday
that she and her husband signed forms to allow Merrymeeting
Behavioral Health Associates to share their daughter’s records with
SequelCare, which has offices in Yarmouth, Belfast and Brewer. She
said the provider was presented to them as an option for services,
but that no other provider was mentioned. She and her husband are
working with their daughter’s case manager to research what
provider would best meet her needs.
“I was told by my
workers that SequelCare is taking all of [Merrymeeting Behavioral
Health Associates’] employees and their clients,” Deigan said.
“The employees were to fill out applications and probably had to go
through SequelCare training, so there would probably be a gap.”
Calls to SequelCare of
Maine were not returned on Monday.
On March 28, the
company posted on its Facebook page, inviting people who may have
received a DHHS letter about losing services to join SequelCare of
Maine in “a new, collaborative and integrative way of receiving
case management” that includes access to “your case manager and a
peer support partners to help you manage the symptoms of your mental
illness on a regular basis. … The behind-the-scenes team includes a
psychiatrist, a nurse, a doctor, a clinician and program managers.”
Samantha Edwards,
spokeswoman for Maine DHHS, said Monday that she couldn’t speak
about specific providers, but that “a number of providers” in the
Brunswick area had contacted DHHS to say they could take on extra
clients.
A
rapid response team from DHHS met Monday with the
clinical director at Merrymeeting Behavioral Health Associates to
determine how best to redirect clients to new service providers after
the abrupt closure on Friday.
Posted April 06,
2016, at 5:44 p.m
BRUNSWICK, Maine
— Mental health rehabilitation worker Jacob Pelletier was driving
in his car with a client on Friday afternoon when his team leader at
Merrymeeting Behavioral Health Associates called to tell him he no
longer had a job.
“She told me to
lie to the client and tell them there’s an emergency, then take
them home and end my day,” Pelletier said Wednesday.
Pelletier, along with
nearly 200 other employees and state and local officials, had
been
told
on March 28 that Merrymeeting Behavioral Health Associates
would stop seeing clients on April 8, and close altogether on April
22, due to proposed state changes in reimbursement rates for
MaineCare clients.
But last Friday, the
company
abruptly
closed its doors without paying employees for hours worked
and without providing state officials with information that would
help them assist workers in finding new jobs...
Pelletier criticized
the proposed changes.
“They’re pushing
for residential care” for clients, Pelletier said. “These
people can function in society, they can pay taxes. They just need
encouragement and to have someone coming in a few hours a week.
They’re paying me $10, $11 an hour. That’s cheaper than putting
them in the hospital.”
Pelletier said that
when the closure was first announced, workers were told
to “transition clients out” of Merrymeeting to another
service provider, SequelCare of Maine.
“We had forms we
were to give out, when we gave them the news that they were losing
services, to process their information quicker to SequelCare,” he
said.
...
BRUNSWICK, Maine —
Service providers and advocates for those with mental illness say the
sudden closure of Merrymeeting Behavioral Health Associates tears a
hole in a safety net promised by the government when state-run
psychiatric institutions closed decades ago.
Merrymeeting Behavioral
Health Associates in Brunswick on Monday notified state and local
officials that
it
would close on April 22 because of anticipated
cuts
in the state’s reimbursement rates to providers of
government-funded, community-based mental health services.
That means 400 people
with disabilities or who otherwise need care will lose services
abruptly, making them more vulnerable and potentially damaging their
health, advocates said Wednesday.
The
changes,
to take effect on April 8 unless the Legislature intervenes, would
affect adults and children with mental illnesses and other
disabilities who receive government-funded Medicaid services in what
is known as Section 17 of the MaineCare Benefits Manual.
Under the changes,
mentally ill patients with MaineCare could only receive Section 17
services if they are diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective
disorder. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services
reportedly notified more than 24,000 Mainers recently that they could
lose community support services.
“A large cut in the
[home and community-based treatment] rate will increase youth
suffering and disability and will increase reliance on institutional
care (hospitals, residential treatment programs, and incarceration),”
Tweed wrote. “We already have a serious problem with youth being
stuck in emergency departments for days and weeks at a time waiting
for placement in hospitals; cutting intensive in-home treatment will
exacerbate that problem.”
Daly at Sweetser and
Mid Coast Hospital spokesman Steve Trockman both said Wednesday that
they expect to see an increase in patients after Merrymeeting closes.
“To have an agency
that busy in the community having to close precipitously, I would
imagine that will have a significant impact on us,” Daly said.
Merrymeeting Behavioral
Health is the second midcoast Maine provider of services to DHHS
clients in the past week to announce that it’s closing. Last week,
Coastal Trans, which for 33 years provided rides to disabled
individuals and others, announced that it would
cease
operations.
The Getchell Agency
Inc., a Bangor-based social services provider, also
filed
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, citing changes in the
state’s reimbursement practices.
**Below
reversal is pointless. Sweetser is a done deal. Maine Behavioral knew
this- both are in Belfast and holding hands. This is a tactic to sway
the public into the smokescreen of "sudden" actions with
the players feigning ignorance. While loose ends are tied. So clear
to see, they do it consistently. Local to State to Federal. The
contract runs out in June regardless.
State reverses decision to award
mental health services to new provider
http://bangordailynews.com/2016/04/01/news/midcoast/state-reverses-decision-to-award-mental-health-services-to-new-provider/?ref=comments
Posted April 01,
2016, at 5:07 p.m.
ROCKLAND, Maine —
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services has reversed its
decision to switch to a new provider of
mental
health services in four midcoast-area counties.
In December, DHHS had
selected
Sweetser to
provide the services to clients in Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox and
Waldo counties. Sweetser would have replaced
Maine
Behavioral Healthcare, which had provided the service in the
region for more than 20 years.
Maine Behavioral
complained to a DHHS appeals board and the agency invalidated the
contract award to Sweetser.
Now, Sweetser has 30
days to appeal that decision to a state court.
Stephanie Hanner,
communications manager for Sweetser, said her organization was
disappointed and that no decision on whether to appeal had been made
yet.
She pointed out that
the organization already serves more than 75 communities in the
state, including in the midcoast area.
Maine Behavioral
Healthcare Chief Executive Officer Dennis King said, “We are, of
course, pleased that the appeal panel agreed with our arguments to
invalidate the decision to award the midcoast region to another
provider.
“We have had over 20
years’ successful experience working in that region and we look
forward to continuing our successful partnership with hospitals and
other providers as we develop our care continuum,” he said.
The current
contract with Maine Behavioral Health will run through June,
according to King. He said he was unsure how much further the
contract would be extended given the potential for an appeal. The
contract that had been tentatively awarded to Sweetser was for a
year.
“The ball is in
their court,” King said.
Messages left with
DHHS on Thursday morning were not returned.
Maine Behavioral
Health has offices in Rockland and Belfast with 100 to 150 employees
and 27 mobile crisis workers who meet with people either at those
offices or at the hospital or their homes.
Maine Behavioral
has
strong
ties to the hospitals in the midcoast area, including Pen
Bay Medical Center in Rockport and Waldo County General Hospital in
Belfast.
Maine Behavioral manages the psychiatric and
recovery unit at Pen Bay, a service that will continue regardless of
whether the Sweetser appeal is successful. Maine Behavioral
is part of the MaineHealth network that includes PBMC, Waldo County
and the Lincoln Health Miles Campus in Damariscotta.
“Sweetser offers
Residential Services and Crisis Stabilization Services at one of our
Belfast locations. We do not publish the addresses of our residences,
but for information or to make a referral, contact the PromiseLine at
1-800-434-3000.”
Services
9 School
Street Belfast, Maine 04915
“One of "The
Schools at Sweetser", our school in Belfast can help with
behavioral problems and other disabilities such as learning
impairments.
Programs & Services List
Sweetser can help - in
over 80 communities in Maine. We maintain a number of offices,
staffed by well-respected medical teams as well as schools
for students with special needs, a recovery center and campuses
in Belfast and Saco. With more than 600 employees and hundreds of
volunteers - we are here to help you find the care you
deserve.
Join the Sweetser Affiliate
Network
As a Sweetser affiliate
you'll have access to our affiliate website and gain the full support
of Sweetser, including:
-
Rapid payment of
claims
-
Assistance with
managed care (APS)
-
Support with
clinical documentation and quality assurance
-
Access to
clinical supervision and consultation
-
Educational
opportunities through the Sweetser Training Institute
-
Confidence in
working with an agency with over 185 years of history
-
Available referrals in your area
Being a Sweetser Affiliate has
its Perks
-
Quality
Assurance and Clinical Consultation
-
Agency and
State of Maine updates
-
Billing Service
and credentialing: MaineCare and Commercial Insurances
-
Council on
Accreditation
-
Training
Institute 50% discounts
-
-
-
-
-
Sweetser
to open School in Belfast , July 01, 2006
This
fall, Sweetser will open a private, special purpose school in
Belfast to meet the needs of children with high degrees of
intellectual...
-
-
-
-
-
Posted on 10/29/2015
at 10:43 am
Posted on 08/24/2015
at 04:14 pm
Posted on 03/31/2015
at 02:17 pm
Posted on 01/06/2015
at 01:54 pmViewed 742 times
Sweetser will be hosting a Hiring Open House at
our new Belfast location on 41 Wight Street, on Wednesday,
January 14, from 4:00-7:00pm.
On-site interviews will be
conducted, including for the following openings: Child Case Manager,
School-based Clinicians and Home & Community Treatment
Clinicians. There are also openings for Youth & Family
Counselors in Rockport, Belfast and Winterport, and training will be
provided.
Posted on 07/03/2014
at 03:10 pm
Rockport, ME - The merger of Harbor Family
Services into Sweetser has been completed, strengthening the
presence of mental health services in the midcoast area. The
merger, which both organizations had been working toward was
completed on Monday, July 1. The merger adds an additional six
locations to Sweetser’s geographic reach. “We have...
Posted on 10/01/2012
at 11:00 am
Brunswick & Biddeford, ME – Sweetser's Dr.
Edward Pontius recently partnered with the University of New England
Physician Assistant Program to provide the psychiatric training
module for physician assistant students. Dr. Pontius, a staff
psychiatrist and clinical supervisor at Sweetser, has previously
developed behavioral health clinical...
3.
Link to Clink
Prison for forensic
patients and first time heroin possession. Yet the prescribing Dr.'s
addicting opiates to heroin keep on scripting, feeding the system.
Belfast is open for
business. Belfast Police Chief McFadden has insider information for
busts through his secret brother-in-law- Tom the Time Warner Cable
tech into area homes and computers, with "sudden"
cable/internet issues. Mine "suddenly stopped" after I
linked them as family. Tom had been to my home and accessing my
computer, TOO MANY times. To Belfast residents - corrupt Judge
Patricia Worth and husband- John Worth III (MMA, Real Estate, Board
Member Maine Health) to The Restorative Justice Program and corrupt
chairman Jay Davis to Sequel Care and director Judy Seals. Ms.
Seals, Executive Director of SequelCare of Iowa started her career in
the human services field over 20 years ago. Prior to joining Sequel
Youth and Family Services in 2000, Ms Seals worked for Polk County
Detention in the Centralized Intake Center. As the Community Liaison
for the Intake Center; Ms. Seals was responsible for developing an
assessment and referral process to meet the needs of juveniles coming
into contact with law enforcement agencies with the goal of
connecting these youth to community-based services.
A plan announced Monday
by LePage and the Department of Health and Human Services seeks a law
change to put forensic patients, temporarily, in the Maine State
Prison in Warren.
Shockingly, Attorney
General Janet Mills and Gov. Paul LePage both back the idea of
increasing first-time heroin possession to a felony. They hope the
more serious charge will motivate people addicted to heroin to seek
treatment. Opponents of the measure feel having a felony criminal
record will unnecessarily hinder people later on in their recovery.
Maine Attorney General
Janet Mills. (Troy R. Bennett | BDN)
Hello Pharm Your Mind.
Be a potato head. NOOOO. 4 Fingers Up. 4FU. Community cures the
system. Lets roll already. Begin Moral Mondays in your park. Bark
loud together. This affects all of JustUs.
The writing is on
the for profit, one size fits all, institution wall. Fearing clients
"summoned" to sign away protection and privacy to the
profits. Maine Health and Department of Defense in contract.
SequelCare Exec. Maine Exec Director Judy Seals credential are Polk
County Detention Center assessing youth in conjunction with law
enforcement agencies. SequelCare is in Belfast, with the Restorative
Justice Program. Chairman Jay Davis telling me in 2012 that
protesting the corruption in Belfast is "Not how we do things
around here". Belfast City Hall, Police Chief, City Attorney and
Judge do for profit. Break those that demand rights and
accountability. Those in the throws of mental health care have no
rights. Sign here. No legal adviser present. Link, link, link.
Clink.
www.4noooomore.blogspot.com
Laurie
Allen
Helfast, Maine
04915
1.
http://www.mainehealth.org/mh_body.cfm?id=7335
http://www.mainehealth.org/mh_...
MaineHealth
Selected as Innovation Partner in National High-Value Health
Collaborative Health systems and Department of Defense join
collaborative to share data on outcomes,
quality
and costs across range of costly conditions and treatments
2.
Judy
Seals
Executive
Director
SequelCare
of Maine
Ms.
Seals, Executive Director of SequelCare of
Iowa
started her career in the human services field over 20 years ago.
Prior to joining Sequel Youth and Family Services in 2000, Ms Seals
worked for Polk County Detention in the Centralized Intake Center. As
the Community Liaison for the Intake Center; Ms.
Seals was responsible for developing an assessment and referral
process to meet the needs of juveniles coming into contact with law
enforcement agencies with the goal of connecting these youth to
community-based services.
Contact
Information
Phone:
515-274-9607
Email:
jseals@sequelcare.com
Here’s
how the program works: Every morning, anyone arrested in Polk County
within the past 24 hours appears before a judge. Tim Larson, team
lead for the program, scours a database to determine whether those
individuals have used the mental health services of Broadlawns
Medical Center or Eyerly Ball, which provides adult mental health
outpatient treatment and supported residential services. If they have
used services or if they demonstrate a need for mental health
services during their arrest or intake assessment, Larson accompanies
them to their appearance
before
the judge.
From
Feb. 22, 2015, through June 10,2015, the program assisted 383
veterans. Staffed and funded with existing resources, the program has
raised awareness among veterans of the services available to
them.“It’s very hard to get veterans to talk about their mental
disease. With this program, I can go to their cell door and talk with
them,”Mortensen says. “We focus on getting them
service-connected.”
AND
DRUG ADDICTED
Pilot
Program
Another
component of the Polk County jail diversion program is a pilot
program launched in 2013 with the Iowa Prescription Drug Corp.
(IPDC), a nonprofit entity that provides prescription medications to
Iowans who can’t afford them. In the pilot, people who need
behavioral health medications who are released from jail can receive
primary care services and up to 90 days’ worth of those medications
at no cost.
“Making
sure they get those medications is turning out to be a low-cost
approach to reducing recidivism, says IPDC Executive Director
Jon-Michael Rosmann.
From
March 2013 through October 2014, of the 306 people incarcerated at
the Polk County Jail who participated in the medication program,
115,or 37.6 percent, re-offended, compared with a recidivism rate of
71 percent of nonparticipating offenders with behavioral health
disorders.
Now
supported through the Iowa attorney general’s office, the programis
“better for the patient, better for their families, cheaper for the
jail and cheaper for the county,” Rosmann says. “It’s a
win-win-win for all stakeholders and simply the right thing to do.”
What
is Mental Illness?
The
American Psychiatric Association defines mental disorders as major
disturbances in an individual’s thinking, feelings or behavior that
reflect problems in mental function. They are grouped on the basis of
their symptoms and when they first appear in life. General categories
of mental disorders include the following:
Anxiety
disorders cause people to respond to certain objects or situations
with fear and dread. These disorders can include obsessive-compulsive
disorder, panic disorders, phobias and
post-traumatic
stress disorders.
Behavioral
disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, involve
a pattern of disruptive behaviors in children that last for at least
six months and cause problems in school, at home and in social
situations.
Eating
disorders, including anorexia, bulimia and binge eating, involve
extreme emotions, attitudes and behaviors involving weight and food.
Mood
disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder and seasonal
affective disorder, involve persistent feelings of sadness or periods
of feeling overly happy, or fluctuating between extreme happiness and
extreme sadness.
Personality
disorders cause extreme and inflexible personality traits that may
cause problems at work, in school or in social relationships.
Psychotic
disorders such as schizophrenia bring about a range of symptoms,
including hallucinations and delusions.
The
Cost of Mental Illness
The
National Institute of Mental Health conservatively estimates the
total cost associated with serious mental illness, defined as those
disorders that are severely debilitating and affect about 6 percent
of
the
adult population, to be over $300 billion per year in disability
benefits, health care expenditures and loss of earnings. World Health
Organization researchers ranked depression the most costly health
condition and predicted it will become the second leading cause of
disability worldwide in the next five years.
By
the Numbers
You
likely know multiple people whose lives have been touched by mental
illness. Consider:
About
1 in 10 children lives with a serious mental or emotional disorder.
Approximately
90 percent of the 34,000 suicides committed in America per year are
related to mental illness.
The
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that post-traumatic
stress disorder afflicts almost 31 percent of Vietnam War veterans,
20 percent of Iraq War veterans and approximately 10 percent of
veterans of wars in the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan.
Around
40 percent of the individuals incarcerated at the Polk County Jail
are on psychotropic medications, used to treat symptoms of mental
illnesses. About a third of the people who utilize Central Iowa
Shelter and Services have a diagnosed mental illness, and likely many
others have yet to be diagnosed.
There’s
reason for hope, however: According to the National Alliance on
Mental Illness, between 70 and 90 percent of individuals have
significant reduction of symptoms and improved quality of life with a
combination of pharmacological and psychosocial treatments and
supports. Early diagnosis and treatment are key.
Advocating
for Broadlawns
A
unique advocacy group is helping raise money for Broadlawns Medical
Center. Formed in 2011 by Johnny Danos and Connie Wimer, Broadlawns
Advocate Circle has raised about $5.7 million of its $10 million goal
to support the center’s $37 million expansion of its mental health
facilities and services.
In
addition, the group is serving as a way to train young professionals
to be the next generation of philanthropic leaders. Eight established
community leaders, including Charlotte Hubbell, Doug Reichardt and
Mary O’Keefe, serve as mentors, and 19 young professionals are the
mentees.
Jonathan
Brendemuehl, corporate communications manager for Bankers Trust and
one of the mentees, says it was “easy to say yes” when he was
asked to be a part of the Advocate Circle because “the stigma
surrounding mental health and treatment baffles me. … Broadlawns
provides critical mental health services, and it’s exciting to work
on a campaign that will enhance these services.”
The
opportunity to learn from the group’s mentors also attracted him,
he says: “Advocating for improved access to quality care alongside
some of our community’s most prolific leaders and philanthropists
has been an incredibly rewarding experience.”
For
more information, go to BroadlawnsFoundationAdvocateCircle.com.
3.
http://www.dsmmagazine.com/201...
Here’s
how the program works: Every morning, anyone arrested in PolkCounty
within the past 24 hours appears before a judge. Tim Larson, teamlead
for the program, scours a database to determine whether those
individuals have used the mental health services of Broadlawns
Medical Center or Eyerly Ball, which provides adult mental health
outpatient treatment and supported residential services. If they have
used services or if they demonstrate a need for mental health
services during their arrest or intake assessment,Larson accompanies
them to their appearance
before the judge.
From Feb. 22,
2015, through June 10,
2015, the program assisted 383 veterans.
Staffed and funded with existing resources, the program has raised
awareness among veterans of the services available to them.“It’s
very hard to get veterans to talk about their mental disease. With
this program, I can go to their cell door and talk with
them,”
Mortensen says. “We focus on getting them
service-connected.”
Pilot Program
Another component
of the Polk County jail diversion program is a pilot program launched
in 2013 with the Iowa Prescription Drug Corp. (IPDC), a nonprofit
entity that provides prescription medications to Iowans who can’t
afford them. In the pilot, people who need behavioral health
medications who are released from jail can receive primary care
services and up to 90 days’ worth of those medications at no
cost.
“Making sure they get those medications is turning out
to be a low-cost approach to reducing recidivism, says IPDC Executive
Director Jon-Michael Rosmann.
From March 2013 through October
2014, of the 306 people incarcerated at the Polk County Jail who
participated in the medication program, 115,or 37.6 percent,
re-offended, compared with a recidivism rate of 71 percent of
nonparticipating offenders with behavioral health disorders.
Now
supported through the Iowa attorney general’s office, the program
is “better for the patient, better for their families, cheaper for
the jail and cheaper for the county,” Rosmann says. “It’s a
win-win-win for all stakeholders and simply the right thing to do.”
4. Linking
Belfast Players to Maine Black Water System
After reading
this absolutely hypocritical and polarizing letter in the Republican
Journal/Village Soup by Steve Ryan. I googled Steve. My prior
dealings with him when he came onto the corrupt Belfast planning
board in 2013 as an alternate member were of immediate pity, another
selfish ego with children. Then he jumped ranks to Belfast Planning
Board Chairman. Rut Ro. He is one of them but I did not know his
connections. Seeing this is hair raising.
http://waldo.villagesoup.com/p/eminent-domain-is-bad-no-matter-who-employs-it/1541269
Conservative to the Core
Eminent domain is bad no matter who employs it
By Tom Seymour | Jul 01, 2016
Oh, that terrible Donald Trump. Those in opposition to the flamboyant, presumptive GOP presidential nominee often cite Trump’s taking by eminent domain of a private property in New York to accommodate traffic for one of his new buildings. Democrats and liberals have made it plain that they in no way approve of the use of eminent domain. I’ve got news for those folks. Republicans and conservatives don’t like eminent domain either. We’re just not as vocal in our denunciations.
And may I suggest that some of those same people who verbally flay Trump over eminent domain appear not to mind the practice at all when it comes to their own local wants and needs. Specifically, I’m talking about the city of Belfast, invoking eminent domain to link two sections of a new walking trail.
Unfortunately, the land the city wants and will take (steal) by force if necessary, sits in front of the Penobscot McCrum potato processing plant. According to Jay McCrum, the land in question is very near the company’s ammonia tanks, a clear danger to walkers. But the Belfast people want this land so badly that they appear willing to exchange safety for convenience.
On the face of it, this seems pretty cut-and-dried. But as with most controversies, there’s more to this story. Let’s look at some historical events.
Industry evil
It began some time ago, when visitors complained that the effluent from the city’s two poultry processing plants (McCrum’s place was once Maplewood Poultry) was making the shiny hulls of their sailboats all sticky and yucky. Those of us who used the harbor and kept fishing boats there had no complaints. But a new personality was seeping into the Belfast consciousness, a personality that wanted to see the city made “clean” again.
Well, they got their way. The poultry industry was vilified and demonized, not to mention taxed and fined, to the point where the owners were forced to shutter their doors. Never mind the hundreds of blue-collar workers who worked for the poultry industry. This included not only workers inside the plants, but also truckers, raisers, salesmen and a host of others. It was big business and it was good for the local economy.
So with the poultry industry now kaput, the civic-minded people of Belfast turned their sights to the remaining industries. Belfast once had two shoe factories. Both had no choice but to go out of business, leaving more of those dirty, sweaty blue-collar workers out in the cold.
One of the last to go was Stinson Canning, or, as older Belfast residents termed it, “The Sardine.” Yes, some tiny bits of fish were vented into the harbor, a terrible situation (no, not really…it didn’t hurt a thing). On the other hand, because of this, Belfast had some of the best saltwater fishing on the Maine coast. People from miles away came here to take advantage of the sporting opportunities. But the die was cast and Stinson is no more. And, again, the people who worked in the sardine industry suddenly found themselves looking for work elsewhere. Many moved away from Belfast to find employment. That didn’t seem to bother the city fathers at all.
The above-mentioned industries were not forced out all at once, but by means of constant nit-picking. The end results were always the same. Industry was bad, in fact evil, and Belfast no longer wanted it. I’m talking specifically about agricultural and natural resource-based industry. Belfast welcomes new industries, as long as they are chic and don’t offend the sensibilities of the new gentry.
So who, after looking at what has happened in the past, can doubt that the writing is on the wall regarding the city’s one remaining agriculture-based industry? Once the collective liberal mind sets its sights on any such industry, that industry is ultimately doomed. So mark my words. Eventually, Penobscot McCrum will follow the long line of demonized industries and shut its doors forever.
The city will probably gain all of the Penobscot McCrum land, not just the narrow strip needed to complete its trail. Perhaps it can be made into a nice park, or some other badly (not) needed attraction.
And what of the people who will lose their livelihoods with the passing of the potato factory? Well, I can safely say that Belfast will shed few tears over the demise of the factory and those stinky, Republican-voting blue-collar workers.
Finally, I know, without a doubt, that my opinion will irritate some people. But it’s not just opinion. It’s fact. Try to make facts go away and they, the pernicious little rascals, just keep on trucking. Nasty things, facts are.
Seymour's history
There’s nothing like
a good Tom Seymour column to clear one’s head and get you thinking
straight again! His March 10 column was a wonderful trip through
history to prove that the only successful model for society is
staunch self-provision. Everyone look out for yourself!
Tom reminds us that
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
He then goes back almost 400 years for a decent example of how fierce
independence and looking out for one’s self resulted in improved
living conditions for society.
It’s unfortunate that
Tom didn’t pause to pluck some examples from a few other centuries
on his way back to Plymouth Plantation. How about the 1800s when the
rich plundered the country, ruthlessly consolidated wealth, and
basically enslaved men, women and children in dangerous impoverishing
jobs because…well, they were looking out for themselves! Fair
enough!
Or, for contrast, the
1900s, when the rich white guys were oppressed by high taxes and an
over-reaching government that was delusional enough to communally
build the electric grid, the interstate highway system, basic
sanitation and services for the populace, the Internet and (through
its funding) the finest system of higher education in the world. Oh,
yes, and those obviously ill-intentioned socialists (like that George
Mitchell fellow) rescued the very air, water and soil we depend on
from a horde of rich white guys who were using it to advance their
personal gain at the expense of…well, the planet! How unfair to
them!
Finally, he could have
made a stop at about eight years ago when inventive financiers saw a
way to increase their own net worth in a perfectly fair contest of
“fleece the public,” and ended up bringing down the entire U. S.
economy. Unfortunately, socialist types again interfered and
introduced a collective effort to stop this noble nest feathering!
Luckily, the rich white guys got to keep their profits this time
because…well, they owned the socialists!
Thanks, Tom, for
putting it all in perspective. And don’t forget to remember
history!
Steve Ryan
Belfast
Luckily, the
Friends of Midcoast Maine website provided Steve Ryan's agenda
written by Steve. Take and break and hide behind Belfast City Wall
with the rest of the thugs, starch his special collar for sure.
Stephen Ryan, FMM
Chair, Belfast. Steve is President/CEO of Maine
Network for Health, a provider-owned organization specializing in
healthcare business support services including payment contracts,
business office functions and quality improvement assistance.
He holds a M.S. degree in Health Care Administration from Simmons
College in Boston. Steve is active with various statewide
healthcare-related boards and committees, and volunteers in his
hometown of Belfast by serving on the city’s Planning Board and
assisting with the annual Maine Celtic Celebration which is coming up
this year on July 18-20th. He lives in Belfast with
his wife, Carla, and two of their three children
MAINE NETWORK
FOR HEALTH
80 Exchange Street |
Suite #603
Bangor, ME 04401
(207) 942-2844
Maine Network for
Health ~ Provide credentialing, contracting, and quality
improvement support for the Maine healthcare community. Our strong
team of qualified professionals is dedicated to supporting Maine
primary care practices, specialty practices, health centers, and
hospitals to provide efficient and high-quality healthcare. Our
Network includes 12 hospitals and 1,380 healthcare providers across
seven counties in eastern and northern Maine.
As is
the take over of Maine Healthcare with all the connected Belfast
Worth (Judge Patricia Worth, MMA John Worth III, Worth Real
Estate...) Network and beyond. Where my tiny street and home has been
under constant assault by the City (for 50+ years) and Maine
Healthcare in my back yard since I was sold this undisclosed hell in
6/2010. More on the current planning/zoning corruption
on
www.boycottbelfast.blogspot.com and
some below.
Linking to Maine Health Waldo County
Hospital and Penbay Regional. Exploding in Belfast. Groundbreaking
takings. With key players on the board. JB Turner, President and part
owner of Front Street Shipyard. John Worth III- Worth Real Estate,
Maine Maritime Academy, heavily connected state wide and in marriage
to Judge Patricia Worth (documented corrupt). President and attorney
Lee Woodward. Belfast City Hall officials, attorney's, real estate
agents, Chamber of Commerce, the RSU71 administration, the connected
list is endless.
Mark Biscone
Executive Director, Waldo County
Healthcare
Interim CEO, Pen Bay Healthcare
Members of the Waldo County
Healthcare Board of Directors are, seated from left, J.B.
Turner, John
Worth III, David
Flanagan, Peter Haddock, Wayne Hamilton, James Patterson, Ed.D and
Benjamin Mailloux, MD (medical staff president). Standing from left
are Catherine Reynolds, Syrena Gatewood, Lee Woodward Jr.,
Dale Kuhnert, Ann Hooper, Jenness Robbins, and James Delehanty, MD
Missing from the photo are: William
Caron, CEO, MaineHealth and Kent Clark, MD. The officers of the
board are: Lee Woodward Jr., president; Dale Kuhnert, vice-president;
James Patterson, secretary; and Catherine Reynolds, treasurer.
Now link
to Maine Health and Department of Defense.
MaineHealth
Selected as Innovation Partner in
National High-Value Health
Collaborative Health
systems and Department of Defense join collaborative to share data on
outcomes,
quality and costs across range of costly conditions and
treatments
PORTLAND, Maine - May 17, 2011-
MaineHealth, the state's largest integrated healthcare system,
announced its selection as an innovation partner in the High-Value
Health Collaborative formed by Mayo Clinic, Denver Health,
Intermountain Healthcare, Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Cleveland Clinic and
The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. The
collaborative will determine best practices for delivering healthcare
and rapidly disseminate actionable recommendations to providers and
health systems across the United States. In addition to achieving
better quality and outcomes, the collaborative intends to improve the
efficiency of standard clinical care delivery to reduce the per
capita cost and to keep costs in pace with the consumer price index.
Dr. James N. Weinstein, director of The
Dartmouth Institute and president of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic,
said, "We believe that physicians and healthcare leaders are in
a key position to implement meaningful change that makes care safer,
more efficient, more effective and more attuned to each patient's
needs and preferences. At the same time, based on our research and
individual experience, we know that by doing this, we actually lower
costs."
"MaineHealth is excited about the
opportunity to contribute to the body of knowledge and learn from the
other partners in the collaborative," said Bill Caron, president
of MaineHealth. "We believe that one of the keys to our
continued success is our ability to glean knowledge about innovations
and advances in clinical care from the most sophisticated healthcare
organizations in the nation and adapt them to our health system."
Vance Brown, chief medical officer for
MaineHealth added, "MaineHealth has taken a leadership role in
developing and implementing cutting-edge clinical integration and
community-health improvement initiatives. For example, our Clinical
Improvement Registry/Nurse Care Management Program has helped
MaineHealth markedly improve quality care for patients with diabetes
and cardiovascular disease."
MaineHealth is well positioned to
partner with other members of the collaborative. Communities served
by MaineHealth include some of Maine's most sparsely populated and
remote areas, as well as the state's most populous, economically and
ethnically diverse cities. With a median age of 41.2, Maine is the
"oldest" state in the nation, with almost 58 percent of
Maine elders living in rural areas, more than twice the national
average. Lessons learned from MaineHealth's success and capacity for
developing, implementing and spreading innovation across diverse
settings is transferable to other communities in the country.
MaineHealth was selected by the
founding collaborative group based on a nomination and review
process. Criteria included having strong research and quality
improvement processes; a robust health information technology
infrastructure; a commitment of personnel, operational, and financial
resources; and demonstrated experience in collaboration across
institutions. Other members include Baylor Health Care System,
Beaumont Hospitals, Providence Health and Services, Scott & White
Health Care, Sutter, UCLA Health System, University of Iowa Health
Care, Virginia Mason Medical Center and the Military Health System of
the Department of Defense.
The collaborative is working together
in nine increasingly prevalent condition/disease-specific areas that
have been shown to have wide variation in rates, costs and outcomes
nationally: total knee replacement, diabetes, asthma, hip surgery,
heart failure, perinatal care, depression, spine surgery and
weight-loss surgery.
Data on total knee replacement, a
procedure that is performed more than 300,000 times a year in the
U.S., with a cost that averages $16,000 to $24,000 per surgery, has
been collected from the founding institutions and is currently being
analyzed. Concurrently, work on diabetes has begun. Data analytics
are facilitated through The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and
Clinical Practice, the coordinating arm of the collaborative. The
Dartmouth Institute, home to the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, has
more than 20 years of experience analyzing complex Medicare claims
data and disseminating the findings.
About MaineHealthMaineHealth is
a not-for-profit family of leading high-quality providers and other
healthcare organizations working together so their communities are
the healthiest in America. Ranked among the nation's top 100
integrated delivery networks, MaineHealth includes the following
member organizations: Lincoln County Healthcare (Miles Memorial
Hospital and St. Andrews Hospital & Healthcare Center), Maine
Medical Center, Maine Mental Health Partners (Spring Harbor
Hospital), Pen Bay Healthcare (Pen Bay Medical Center), Southern
Maine Medical Center, Waldo County Healthcare (Waldo County General
Hospital), Western Maine Health (Stephens Memorial Hospital),
HomeHealth Visiting Nurses, Maine Physician Hospital Organization,
NorDx and Synernet. Affiliates of MaineHealth include MaineGeneral
Medical Center, Mid Coast Hospital, New England Rehabilitation
Hospital and St. Mary's Regional Medical Center.
About the Dartmouth Institute for
Health Policy and Clinical PracticeThe Dartmouth Institute
aspires to be the preeminent research and educational institution
devoted to the ongoing reform of the U.S. healthcare system. Its
vision is to achieve a patient-centered, high-quality, cost-effective
healthcare system with access and excellence for
all.
http://tdi.dartmouth.edu
###
Contact:
Contact: Mark Harris
VP, Marketing
MaineHealth
207662-7559
Who
is MaineHealth?
MaineHealth is a not-for-profit family of
leading high-quality providers and other healthcare organizations
working together so their communities are the healthiest in
America. Ranked among the nation's top 100 integrated healthcare
delivery networks, MaineHealth member organizations include Maine
Medical Center, Lincoln County Health Care, Maine Behavioral
Healthcare, Memorial Hospital, Pen Bay Medical Center, Southern
Maine Health Care, Waldo County General Hospital, Western Maine
Health, HomeHealth Visiting Nurses, NorDx, Synernet and Franklin
Community Health Network. Affiliates of MaineHealth include
MaineGeneral Health, Mid Coast-Parkview Health, New England
Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland and St. Mary's Health System. |
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| View
more information about our MaineHealth members » |
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MaineHealth Management
Team
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William L. Caron, Jr.
President
MaineHealth
110 Free Street
Portland, ME 04101
Phone: (207) 661-7001
Fax: (207) 661-7029
caronw@mainehealth.org |
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Mark Biscone
Executive Director, Waldo County Healthcare
Interim CEO, Pen Bay Healthcare
Waldo County Healthcare118 Northport Avenue
Belfast, ME 04915
Phone: (207) 338-9302
Fax: (207) 338-8600
mbiscone@wchi.com |
Pen Bay Healthcare6 Glen Cove Drive
Rockport, ME 04856
Phone: (207) 596-8204
Fax: (207) 593-5287 |
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Terri Cannan Senior Vice President, Marketing &
CommunicationsMaineHealth
110 Free Street
Portland, ME 04101
Phone: (207) 662-5687
Fax: (207) 661-7029
tcannan@mmc.org |
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Timothy A. ChurchillPresident, Western Maine
Healthcare
Interim CEO, Franklin Community Health Network
Western Maine Healthcare
181 Main Street
Norway, ME 04268
Phone: (207) 743-5933
Fax: (207) 743-1566
churchillt@wmhcc.org |
Franklin Community Health Network
111 Franklin Health Commons
Farmington, ME 04938
Phone: (207) 779-2265 |
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Deborah Deatrick, MPHSenior Vice President, Community
Health
MaineHealth110 Free
Street
Portland, ME 04101
Phone: (207) 661-7001
Fax: (207) 661-7029
deatrd@mainehealth.org |
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Donna DeBloisPresident
HomeHealth Visiting Nurses15 Industrial Park Road
Saco, ME 04072
Phone (207) 284-4566
Fax (207) 282-4148
ddeblois@homehealth.org |
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James W. DonovanPresident & CEO
Lincoln County Healthcare
PO Box 417
Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538
Phone: (207) 633-1901
jdonovan@lcservices.org |
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Robert Frank
Senior Vice President & General Counsel MaineHealth110
Free Street
Portland, ME 04101
Phone: (207) 661-7010
Fax: (207) 661-7029
frankr1@mainehealth.org |
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Katie Fullam HarrisSenior Vice President, Government
Relations and Accountable Care
MaineHealth110
Free Street
Portland, ME 04101
Phone: (207) 661-7001
Fax: (207) 661-7029
harrik2@mainehealth.org |
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Mark Harris
Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning
MaineHealth
110 Free Street
Portland, ME 04101
Phone: (207) 661-7001
Fax: (207) 661-7029
harrim6@mainehealth.org |
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Elizabeth H. Johnson, M.D., M.S.Chief Executive Officer
MaineHealth Accountable Care Organization110 Free Street
Portland, ME 04101
Phone: (207) 482-7050
Fax: (207) 771-2005
ehjohnson@mmc.org |
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Dennis P. KingChief Executive Officer
Maine Behavioral Healthcare
123
Andover Road
Westbrook, ME 04092
Phone: (207) 761-2200
Fax: (207) 761-2108
kingd@springharbor.org |
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Robert A. McArtor, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
MaineHealth
110 Free Street
Portland, ME 04101
Phone: (207) 661-7001
Fax: (207) 661-7029
mcartr@mainehealth.org |
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Edward J. McGeachey, IIIPresidentSouthern
Maine Health CareP.O. Box 626
Biddeford, ME 04005-0626
Phone: (207) 283-7220
Fax: (207) 283-7020
exe.ejm@smmc.org |
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Colin T. McHughSenior Vice President, Network
Development & Contracting
MaineHealth
110 Free Street
Portland, ME 04101
Phone: (207) 661-7001
Fax: (207) 661-7029
cmchugh@mainehealth.org |
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Scott McKinnonPresident & CEO
Memorial Hospital3073 White Mountain, Hwy
North Conway, NH 03860
Phone: (603) 356-5461
smckinnon@memorialhospitalnh.org |
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Andrea Dodge PatstoneSenior Vice President, System
Development
MaineHealth110 Free
Street
Portland, ME 04101
Phone: (207) 661-7001
Fax: (207) 661-7029
patsta@mainehealth.org |
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Richard W. Petersen
President & CEO
Maine Medical Center
22 Bramhall Street
Portland, ME 04102
Phone: (207) 662-2491
Fax: (207) 662-6202
peterri@mmc.org |
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W. Stanley Schofield
President
NorDx
301 A U.S. Route One
Scarborough, ME 04074-9308
Phone: (207) 396-7888
Fax: (207) 396-7805
schofs@mmc.org |
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Christopher Sprowl, M.D.
President Maine Medical Partners
301C US Route 1
Scarborough, ME 04074
Phone: (207) 396-8600
Fax: (207) 396-8632
csprowl@mmc.org |
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Albert G. Swallow IIIExecutive Vice President and
Treasurer
MaineHealth110 Free Street
Portland, ME 04101
Phone (207) 661-7001
Fax (207) 661-7029
swalla@mmc.org |
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Gerald J. Vicenzi
President & CEO
Synernet
110 Free Street
Portland, ME 04101
Phone: (207) 771-3456
Fax: (207) 775-3415
gvicenzi@synernet.net |
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Marjorie S. Wiggins, R.N., MBA, DNP(c), NEA-BC
Senior Vice President, Patient Services & Chief Nursing
Officer
Maine Medical Center
22 Bramhall Street
Portland, ME 04102
Phone: (207) 662-2751
wiggim@mmc.org |
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Members |
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Chris ChekrourasPresident & CEO
St. Mary’s Health System
93 Campus Avenue
Lewiston, ME 04240
Phone: (207) 777-8100 |
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Chuck Hays
PresidentMaineGeneral Health149 North Street
Waterville, ME 04901
Phone: (207) 872-1600
Fax: (207) 872-1594 |
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Lois Skillings, R.N.President & CEO
Mid Coast Health Services
123 Medical Center Drive
Brunswick, ME 04011
Phone: (207) 373-6000 |
Board of Trustees
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OFFICERS
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President: Bill Caron, MaineHealth
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Chair: Susannah Swihart
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Secretary: Robert S. Frank, MaineHealth
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Treasurer: Albert G. Swallow III,
MaineHealth
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Assistant Secretary: Beth Kelsch,
MaineHealth
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KATHRYN BARBER
Kathy Barber has spent her career in medical/biotech
industry sales and marketing. A Skidmore College and University
of Chicago Graduate School of Business graduate, she worked for
Abbott Laboratories in a management development program and at
IDEXX Laboratories in Westbrook in marketing positions in the
food safety, human diagnostics and veterinary medicine
divisions.
Barber is a past board member of the Gulf of Maine Research
Institute and Barber Foods. In 2007, she joined the board
of trustees at Bangor Savings Bank and sits on the Human
Resource, Audit and Governance Committees. She is also a
board member for Piper Shores LLC a lifecare community in
Scarborough, Maine as well as the Robotics Institute of Maine. |
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GENE BERGOFFEN
Gene Bergoffen is the immediate past chair of the Memorial
Hospital Board of Trustees, and serves on its Executive and
Governance Committees. He is also the Principal of MaineWay
Services, performing research studies on truck safety for the
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association. He is an attorney,
completing his degree at Georgetown University Law Center.
Initially trained as a forester, with a BS in Forestry and MS
in Public Administration, he has worked for the US Forest
Service as Director of Legislative Affairs, and the National
Forest Products Association. Before relocating to Fryeburg,
Maine, he was President and CEO of the National Private Truck
Council, representing the nation's private truck fleet
community. Active in community affairs, Bergoffen was chair of
the Fryeburg Planning Board, and served on the board of the Tin
Mountain Conservation Center in the Mount Washington Valley,
and is now a member of the Eastern Slopes Airport Authority
Board. |
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JOSEPH M. BUJOLD
Joe Bujold has served on the Board of Franklin Memorial
Hospital/Franklin Community Health Network since 2007, and has
held his current role of board chairman there since 2009.
A native of Maine and a graduate of Middlebury College,
Bujold has served in a number of professional leadership
roles. He lived in Farmington for 11 years during the 60s
and 70s at which time he served as president of Bass Shoe Co.,
then based in Wilton, Maine. He later joined an
international consulting firm, Alexander Proudfoot, which works
with major companies of the world to improve business processes
and performance. For 18 years, Bujold ran various units
of the company and was based in Brussels, Belgium; Sydney,
Australia; and Singapore. He returned to the United
States in 1989 to serve as chief executive officer of Alexander
Proudfoot Company worldwide.
Bujold has also been an advisor and consultant to the law
firm Holland & Knight and Dexter Shoe Company. He and
his wife Lee reside in Farmington and are the parents of two
grown children, Noelle and Marc. |
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BILL BURKE
Bill Burke is an experienced media executive who held
various positions at Turner Broadcasting and Time Warner,
including president of TBS Super Station and general manager of
Turner Classic Movies. He also served as president and chief
executive officer (CEO) of The Weather Channel Companies. Burke
also co-authored Call Me Ted, the autobiography of Ted Turner.
He is a graduate of Amherst College and received his MBA from
the Harvard Business School. In addition to being current
vice-chair of the Maine Medical Center board, Burke is chairman
of the Portland Sea Dogs and the US Biathlon Association, a
director of Simulmedia, Inc., and serves on the advisory
board of Specific Media, Inc. |
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STEVEN DOBIESKI, M.D.
Dr. Dobieski graduated from Bates College and received his
MD from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He
completed his residency training in internal medicine at Maine
Medical Center and became board-certified in internal medicine.
He joined the Greater Portland Medical Group and subsequently
took a position at InterMed. Currently, he is a shareholder and
full-time internist with InterMed. Dobieski is a member of the
InterMed board and the Quality Improvement committee at
InterMed. He also is a member of the InterMed Best Practices
Work Group. He has been a long-standing member of the American
College of Physicians and is an active member in the Maine
chapter of the ACP. |
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GREG DUFOURVice Chair
Greg Dufour is president and CEO of Camden
National Corporation, Maine’s largest publicly traded
community bank and the parent company of Camden National Bank
and Acadia Trust, N.A. Dufour is also president and CEO
of Camden National Bank, a $2.6 billion community bank
headquartered in Camden, Maine and is chair of the board of
directors of Acadia Trust, N.A., which is headquartered in
Portland, Maine. Dufour was named to his current role in
2009 after serving as president and CEO of Camden National Bank
since 2004. Prior to joining Camden National, Dufour was
managing director of finance for IBEX Capital Markets in
Boston, MA, a specialty investment advisor, and held several
positions in the finance division at Fleet/Boston Financial
Group. His community service includes serving as the
current chair of the Maine Bankers Association, a member of the
board of trustees and secretary of the board of Pen Bay
Healthcare. He also is a member of the advisory board of
Lie-Nielsen Toolworks. Dufour and his wife Doreen reside
in Rockport, Maine.
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CHRIS EMMONSChris Emmons is the president and
CEO of Gorham Savings Bank. The Massachusetts native graduated
from the University of Maine, Orono, and began his banking
career at Maine National Bank in 1977. After stops at BayBank
and TD Banknorth, he joined Gorham Savings Bank in 2003. A
strong community supporter, Chris is involved with the Maine
Bankers Association as well as several local non-profit
organizations. He serves as chairman of MMC's Board of
Trustees, board member and former chairman of the University of
Southern Maine Foundation, and chairman of the United Way of
Greater Portland. Chris' 30+ years of service to United Way
began as a loaned executive in the late 1970s. He served as
chair of the 2006 Annual Campaign, raising more than $8.5
million. Chris was selected as a 2007 laureate and inducted
into the Maine Business Hall of Fame. |
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ROBERT S. FRANKSecretary
Robert Frank has served as deputy general counsel for
MaineHealth since July 2009. In that capacity, he has provided
legal advice in connection with strategic initiatives and
acquisitions, competition laws compliance, payor contracting,
data security and breach matters, risk management and
insurance, federal and state healthcare provider licensing, and
has overseen professional liability, regulatory and business
litigation and dispute resolution matters. Prior to his work at
MaineHealth, he was an associate at the Morrison & Forester
law firm in San Francisco (1979-82); an assistant attorney
general at the Maine Department of Attorney General
(1982-1987); an associate and then partner in the law firm
Verrill Dana (1987-1995), and a founding member and partner of
Harvey & Frank (1995-2009). While in private law
practice, he represented various hospitals, physician practices
and health insurance carriers, the Maine Hospital Association,
and on special assignment to the American Hospital Association
in connection with the drafting of federal antitrust and health
care guidelines. He also served as a visiting lecturer of
antitrust law for three terms at The University of Maine Law
School (1997-1990), and currently serves as a panel member on
the Grievance Commission of the Maine Board of Overseers of the
Bar.
Bob is a graduate of Emory University (B.A. Physics), and
Yale Law School (J.D.). He is a member of the Midcoast Symphony
Orchestra, and a past board member, treasurer and founder. He
also served as treasurer and board member of the LARK Society
for Chamber Music, and a board member of Young Peoples' Theater
in Brunswick. |
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FRANK H. FRYE
Frank H. Frye, an attorney, is "Of Counsel" to the
law firm of Jensen Baird Gardner & Henry. Frank practices
in the areas of Corporate, Business and Tax/Estate Planning
Law, and specializes in serving closely-held business entities
and non-profit organizations. Before joining the firm, he
served as Attorney and Assistant Branch Chief, Interpretative
Division in the Office of the Chief Counsel of the Internal
Revenue Service, Washington D.C., and practiced with a large
law firm in New York City. He has been selected for inclusion
in the latest edition of The Best Lawyers in America for
Corporate Law and New England Super Lawyers for
Business/Corporate and Tax. His community work includes serving
on the Maine Medical Center Board of Trustees. He has been
selected for inclusion in the latest edition of The Best
Lawyers in America for Corporate Law and New England Super
Lawyers for Business/Corporate and Tax, and is a past
Chair of the Maine State Bar Association Tax Section. His
charitable and civic work included service on the Town of
Scarborough Planning Board, and as aTrustee of the
Portland, Maine chapter of the American Red Cross and
Opportunity Farm for Boys and Girls. Frank currently serves on
the Board of Directors of Down East Magazine, the
magazine of Maine. |
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BERNARD GAINES
Bernard Gaines has served on the board of
trustees for Southern Maine Medical Center, and now Southern
Maine Health Care (SMHC), since 2001. He has served as
chairman of the board of trustees at SMMC/SMHC since 2011.
He has also served previously on the MaineHealth board.
Gaines is a retired executive from Unum.
He currently owns BSG Properties, LLC. He is
married and living in Saco.
Gaines volunteers his time as a member of the
SMHC Physician Services board of directors, the Thornton
Academy Board of Directors, is a member of the Saco Lodge
(Masons), the Order of the Eastern Star and the BPOE Elks.
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GEORGE E. HISSONG, JR.
George (Ted) Hissong serves on the Southern Maine Health
Care (SMHC) Board of Trustees as vice chairman and is chairman
of the SMHC Governance Committee. He is president and CEO of
Stafford Systems, Inc. located in Kennebunk, Maine, a position
he has held since 1988. Hissong has served as a trustee of the
Kennebunk Light and Power District, two years as chair as well
as a trustee of the Kennebunk Sewer District. He is currently a
member of the Sanford Industrial Development Commission and
serves on the board of Port Opera.
Hissong graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in
physical chemistry from Heidelberg University, Tiffin, OH and
attended graduate school at Purdue University, W. Lafayette,
IN. |
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DAVID JAMES KUMAKI, M.D., FACP
David James Kumaki, MD, is an active member of
the medical staff at Stephens Memorial Hospital specializing in
Internal Medicine. He simultaneously served as chair of
both the Stephens Memorial Physician Hospital Organization
(PHO) and the Maine PHO. Kumaki is a physician leader on
MaineHealth’s Shared Health Record project (SeHR) and a
member of the SeHR executive committee. He is also chief
medical information officer for Western Maine Health.
Previously on the staff at New Hampshire’s Androscoggin
Valley Hospital, his experience extends well beyond New
England. Kumaki is a long-time member of the Wilderness
Medical Society and Nepal Studies Association. His experience
includes several positions in Kathmandu, Nepal: staff
physician for Canadian International Water and Energy
Consultants’ International Clinic; acting medical officer and
consultant in Internal Medicine for the Peace Corps; and
volunteer physician for the Himalayan Rescue Association.
He also spent time in Greater Boston, first as an Intern and
resident at Boston City Hospital, and later on the staff at
East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, New England Baptist
Hospital and Symmes Hospital.
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SANDY MATHESON
Sandy Matheson is the executive director of the Maine Public
Employees Retirement System. She was previously the
director of the Washington State Department of Retirement
Systems. Matheson’s career has been in management, healthcare
and financial services. She served as the president and CEO of
Hanford Environmental Health Foundation, the board chair of
Kennewick General Hospital, consulted and acted as interim CEO
for various organizations, and taught as an adjunct instructor
for the Washington State University business program. Matheson
has been involved with a broad range of civic and charitable
activities and in 2003 was named the Tri-Citian of the Year in
Washington State for her community service.
Matheson graduated with a bachelor's degree in Economics
from Northwestern University and a MBA from Washington State
University. |
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THOMAS J. RYAN, JR., M.D., FACC
Thomas J. Ryan, Jr., M.D., has served as medical director of
the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Maine Medical Center
since 2003. Ryan's awards and honors include being twice
elected One of the Best Doctors in America as well as
Cardiology Teacher of the Year at MMC. He's a Fellow in the
American College of Cardiology and The Society for Cardiac
Angiography and Interventions. He sits on many committees,
including the Northern New England Cardiovascular Disease Study
Group. His research includes dozens of published works, and his
academic appointments include Harvard Medical School and
Vermont School of Medicine. |
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MELISSA SMITH
Melissa Smith, the President and CEO of WEX, a
global corporate payments company, has been elected to the
MaineHealth board of trustees. A finance expert by training,
Smith joined WEX in 1998 and played a pivotal role as WEX’s
chief financial officer, leading the company through a highly
successful initial public offering and focusing on its growth
as a public company. Her record of execution, continuous
improvement, and increased responsibilities for WEX’s
business operations led to her appointment as president of the
Americas, and ultimately as president and CEO of the entire
company. As CEO, Smith has responsibility for the company’s
day-to-day global operations and its long-term strategic
growth. She also serves as a WEX board member.
Smith is an active member of her community and
was named The Girl Scouts of Maine’s 2013 Woman of
Distinction, and a Mainebiz 2012 Woman to Watch. Recognized as
an industry leader, Melissa was named the PYMNTS.com 2014 Most
Innovative Woman in Payments and a PaymentsSource 2014 Most
Influential Woman in Payments. She serves on the Center for
Grieving Children’s Board of Directors and participates in
the Executive Women’s Forum, which she co-founded to provide
a support network for female executives in her local community.
Melissa began her career at Ernst & Young
and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration
from the University of Maine.
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SUSANNAH SWIHARTChair
Susannah Swihart spent two decades at BankBoston Corporation
in a wide variety of leadership, operational, and strategic
roles, including Vice Chairman and CFO. Previous
responsibilities at BankBoston included management of a variety
of corporate banking businesses, operations, and risk
functions. During that period, Susannah was a member of the
executive committee of the board of trustees of the Boys &
Girls Clubs of Boston, ran BankBoston's $3+ million United Way
campaign in 1998, and later chaired the $1 million Women's
Leadership Breakfast for the United Way of Massachusetts Bay.
Since returning to Maine in 2000, she has committed her efforts
to a variety of corporate and community boards. In addition to
MMC's Board of Trustees, Susannah serves on the boards of
directors of the Dead River Company and MaineHealth and is the
former board chair of Common Good Ventures and the Boys &
Girls Clubs of Southern Maine. Susannah is a graduate of
Harvard College and Harvard Business School. |
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