Patient Centered Medicine

Rotarians gathered last Thursday on a blustery night (is it really the end of July?) for fellowship and a dinner of shepherd’s pie.

Our guest speakers are all medical professionals from the Boothbay Region Health Center. Kandace and Andy Zuber and Whitney Troismontagne all joined the Health Center just before or during the pandemic, providing themselves with a real “trial by fire” during a difficult time All three spoke of the full service primary care that has been available at their clinic at the Small Mall since 2018, and how they work to keep the family practice affordable to clients with or without insurance.

They also spoke of how patient-centered the practice is – everything from home visits to extended hours to telemedicine are available to Health Center patients, even though, they said, insurance policies aren’t often set up to promote these amenities.

Based on the feedback and questions after their presentation, it’s clear that a large number of Rotarians are solid Health Center patients.

Food Insecurity Grant

In other exciting news, we have submitted a grant proposal to the Rotary District to continue our work in food insecurity. With thanks to Judi White, Vic Taylor, and their team, we are hoping we will be awarded funds to support a “food council” here on the peninsula, modeled after our “elder forum.” The grant application includes funds to continue work on transportation needs, and also to publicize SNAP benefits. All these needs came out of our recently completed appreciative inquiry study into food insecurity and food needs here in the Region.

Construction Progress

Work on our barn and parking lot extensions continues under the leadership of Mike Thompson. The walls of the new Boutique area have been painted; Doug Harley is making railings for the steps up to the new room, and Deb Graves and Penny Pollard did a big clean-out of the storage area. With luck, the Boutique should be moving in just a few weeks, and in the new space, we will have even more room for display and sales. All of which, of course, comes back as income for our local and international charities.

Set for Success

Set for Success will take place Sunday, August 29 at the Y field house. Once again, Linda Foster is putting together personal kits of sanitation supplies. Interested in helping out? Give her a call!

Meet Gretchen Ostherr

This coming Thursday we’ll hear from Gretchen Ostherr, President & CEO of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. Gretchen has overseen a tremendous growth in visitation at the Gardens this summer, with help from 5 trolls and an amazingly dedicated and hard-working staff. Come listen to an update on this important local landmark.

Interested in learning more about Rotary and the good work we do? We meet (almost) every Thursday at the Rotary building on Montgomery Road. Festivities start at 6:00; join us! We are always looking for new members who are interested in giving back to the community and having fun while doing so.

Jeff