Welcome to the website of HealthReach Community Health Centers. We provide acute, chronic and preventive medical services to 28,000 Maine residents and visitors each year. We are part of the United States Public Health system where 1,400 grantees provides primary care to 28 million Americans in over 11,000 Community Health Centers (CHCs) sites spread across 50 states.
Directed by boards with majority consumer membership, CHCs focus on meeting the basic health care needs of individual communities. We provide treatment regardless of income or insurance coverage. Since the early 1960s, CHCs have worked closely with local people to identify unmet health care needs and to help meet those challenges. The original intent of the health center movement was and continues to be to provide access to quality health services. Our centers serve as a gateway to health services by providing geographic access to patients (many of the HealthReach practices are located in rural areas where primary care services are not readily available) and financial access to health services for patients through our Affordable Care Program.
We opened our first center in Bingham, Maine in 1975. Since then we have expanded health care access across many Central and Western Maine communities through 12 health centers, two dental centers and the integration of behavioral health services across our sites. With the integration of primary care, dental and behavioral health services, our health care team will be able to more fully address the needs of our patients. In addition, HealthReach clinicians are helping to address the opioid epidemic by providing medication assisted treatment at nine of our locations. At HealthReach, we are proud of our medical, dental, and behavioral health providers and the quality of care they deliver. Our experienced family practitioners focus on preventive care and developing partnerships with patients that enhance their overall health status. We serve patients from birth through retirement and beyond.
I encourage you to explore our website and visit frequently. Take a look at our
press releases and
Community Report. Learn about us and the
services we make available in your community. Let us become one of your resources for wellness, health care, and linkage to other community and state services.
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It is my pleasure as the Chair of the Governing Board of Directors for the HealthReach Community Health Centers, to join President and CEO Connie Coggins in welcoming you to the HealthReach Website.
As a retiree residing in Belgrade Lakes in 2010, my first experience with HealthReach was during a visit to the Belgrade Regional Health Center to seek care for my young granddaughter. She was in town to visit us with her family from Connecticut. Based on the friendly reception and high quality care we received, my wife and I have been patients at the center ever since. We feel very fortunate to have the professional medical services provided by HealthReach available in Maine – and especially in our small, tight-knit community.
As Connie noted, HealthReach has 12 health centers located across Central and Western Maine. We recently opened the twelfth health center within the halls of Lawrence High School of Fairfield. The goal of opening a health center within the school was to bring both accessibility and convenience to teens who may not have other access to care. The Bulldog Health Center at Lawrence offers comprehensive primary care services throughout the school year – including checkups and sports physicals, diagnosis of and treatment for minor illness, management of chronic conditions, and immunizations for students in grades 9-12.
The HealthReach Board of Directors is a diverse, all-volunteer board that represents the rural communities of Central and Western Maine served by HealthReach practices. The Board’s function is to provide oversight and support for the team of professionals who serve in our Waterville-based “Central” office and across all 12 health center sites.
On behalf of the Board, I invite you to explore the HealthReach website and to visit one of our health centers to learn more about how we can provide quality health care for you and your family.
Lynn Matson
2022 Board Chair of HealthReach Community Health Centers