RICHMOND—The staff at Richmond Area Health Center will be welcoming
Agnieszka “Aga” Smith, clinical social worker, to the practice in December.
Immigrating to the United States 18 years ago, Aga earned her Master’s degree
in social work from the University of Silesia in Poland before continuing her
studies at the University of Southern Maine and receiving her Master of Social
Work in 2006. She brings social work experience with children, adolescents and
adults in hospital, outpatient and residential settings. In 2006, Aga began her career working with children and their
families as an in-home support and child reunification worker. In 2009, she
treated children and adolescents in inpatient and outpatient capacities as a hospital
clinical social worker. Later, she found her calling working with adults with
co-occurring disorders. As a therapist in an adult intensive outpatient
program, she noticed that intrinsic motivation was a critical element of
behavioral change. Aga has also utilized her skills to manage two Federally
Qualified Health Center primary care practices. More recently, Aga developed
the desire to return to work in direct patient care and adjusted her path to a
cancer center and discovered a hidden appreciation for end-of-life care as a
clinician in an oncology unit. Aga will join physicians Linda Hermans, Michael Landrum and Henry
Scheuller, as well as nurse practitioners Elizabeth Kerr, Melissa Hackett and
Tom Bartol. Our clinicians offer medical and behavioral health services from
birth through retirement and beyond. Area residents and visitors from Richmond,
Gardiner, Litchfield, Dresden, Bowdoinham, as well as Augusta and surrounding
communities, utilize the health center which was established in 1977.
Richmond Area Health Center
is part of HealthReach Community Health Centers, a group of eleven Federally
Qualified Health Centers in Central and Western Maine. Dedicated providers
deliver high quality medical and behavioral health care to citizens in over 80
rural communities. To ensure access to everyone, HealthReach accepts Medicare,
MaineCare and major insurances. In addition, an Affordable Care Program is
available to uninsured and underinsured residents as well as assistance with
applications for programs that help with the cost of healthcare and medications
including the Health Insurance Marketplace.
A
private, non-profit with a 45-year history, HealthReach is funded by patient
fees, grants and by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a an award
totaling $4,580,070 with 82.5 percent financed with non-governmental sources.
The contents are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the
official views of, now an endorsement by, the HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.
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