Coastal Healthcare Connect
Vol. 02 No. 1 | January 2020
Steel Frame in Place for New Health Center
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ith their best penmanship, care team members at Pen Bay Medical Center recently celebrated an important milestone in the building of the new Health Center. Those assembled each signed a beam before a crane raised it atop the structural steel frame of the 41,513-square-foot structure. A construction industry tradition, beam signings mark the completion of the framing and the beginning of work to enclose the structure. “This is an exciting step in the process,” said PBMC President Mark Fourre, MD. “Now we’re on to the next phase of construction. We remain on schedule to open the new facility by the end of 2020.” The new Health Center will be a two story stand-alone building. The first floor will house the pediatrics, audiology and speech pathology, and ear, nose and throat practices, as well as pediatric physical and occupational therapy. Internal medicine and family medicine will be on the second floor. The Health Center will also provide space where specialists from the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center can meet with patients in Rockport, reducing the need for children with special health needs to travel to Portland.
Janet Smith, secretary/ receptionist at Pen Bay Speech & Hearing/Pediatric PT and OT, signs a beam that was then raised to the top of the new Health Center. Joining her in the background are, l-r, Megan Moran, physical therapist; Heidi Dimauro, secretary/ receptionist; and Lisa Manley, manager of Pediatric PT and OT. Above, the completed structural steel frame of the Health Center.
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Provider Profile
Jeffrey Rasmussen, MD Orthopedics W
How does having worked with elite athletes influence your work with patients at Pen Bay Medical Center? Patients get injured and the medical or surgical options are pretty much the same no matter where you live or practice. What elite athletes demand is an orthopedic doctor who takes the time to understand their lives and what kind of outcome they want from treatment. I believe that everyone, from the young high school athlete to older manual laborer, deserves that same kind of care. It’s about understanding what the patient wants and how I can meet those expectations. The 16-yearold student athlete who tears their ACL on the soccer field may have different expectations and constraints than the 60-year-old lobsterman who needs to get back to pulling pots the next day. I work hard to understand their needs and expectations and craft a medical response tailored to their lives.
hat does an NBA AllStar and a lobsterman have in common? Jeffrey Rasmussen, MD, knows the answer. Dr. Rasmussen has served on the medical teams for a number of college and professional sports teams – including the Boston Celtics. These days he treats patients at Pen Bay Orthopedics, a department of Pen Bay Medical Center. A surgeon who specializes in sports medicine, minimally invasive shoulder and knee surgery, and shoulder replacement, Dr. Rasmussen sees patients from across Maine. For more information, call his office at 207-301-5454. To learn what an NBA All-Star and a lobsterman have in common, read on. * * *
What can patients expect when they meet you for the first time? I start by asking patients to tell me about themselves. Where do you live? What do you do for work? What activities bring you satisfaction? I want to get to know them on a personal level and that, combined with a good history and exam, helps guide the best medical response for the patient.
Congratulations on welcoming you your third child. Thank you. Lucky number three, Emma Rasmussen, was born on October 25th. I also have a little boy, Patrick, who turned 3 this past summer, and a little girl, Allison, who will be 2 in January. It’s is a busy household and a bit crazy at times.
What have been your most satisfying moments in medicine so far? Every time I get a hug after doing a shoulder replacement. Some of my happiest patients are my shoulder replacements. Equally as satisfying is the smile on a young athlete’s face when they are cleared to return to their sport. That’s pretty special.
What inspired you to a life in medicine? My mother had Crohn’s disease when I was young and was in and out of the hospital often. Based on that experience, I always said I wanted to get into medicine to help people. As a kid, I loved sports. All I did was play sports. Becoming a sports medicine doctor was the natural fit. It allowed me to work with patients and athletes of all ages who want to stay active.
Why practice medicine in Maine? I’m from Geneseo, a small town in western New York, south of Rochester. It’s a very small town, maybe 10,000 people. After college at Cornell University, I went to medical school at the University of Maryland in Baltimore and then lived in New Jersey and Boston – so a lot of city living. After we had our first child, we asked ourselves, are we staying in Boston or are we looking for something new? We came up to visit Camden and said, let’s do this. It’s a great, close-knit community. We can walk to friends’ houses and we can walk downtown. It’s just a great place to raise a family.
You had an interesting start to your medical career. I was fortunate to have worked with athletes for several teams in the Boston area, including Harvard University and the Boston Celtics. It was a great experience, especially in terms of understanding the expectations of the athletes, coaches and trainers. I’ve been lucky to have worked with elite athletes while learning from some very talented surgeons and physicians. 2
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Concussion Teams Respond to Spike In Young Patients
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David Fyfe, a patient in the Oncology and Infusion department at Waldo County General Hospital, shows off a t-shirt he received as part of a family getaway package provided by the Dream Foundation. David’s sister, Charlene Fyfe, right, and Claudia Hill, LCSW and an oncology social worker, look on.
WCGH Oncology Patient Enjoys ‘Dream’ Trip
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aldo County General Hospital recently hosted the Dream Foundation as it presented a fishing trip to David Fyfe, a patient in the Oncolcogy and Infusion department. “This is amazing,” said Fyfe. “I haven’t been fishing in so long. I never would have been able to do this on my own.” At right, Fyfe sits next to his sister, Charlene Fyfe, during the presentation. Claudia Hill, LCSW, oncology social worker, looks on. Dream Foundation serves terminally ill adults and their families by providing end-of-life Dreams that offer inspiration, comfort and closure. Over the past two decades, the foundation has provided psychosocial and emotional support tailored to more than 30,000 terminally-ill adults and their families. Fyfe had originally hoped for a
trip to Cape Cod, where his family vacationed when he was growing up. He decided Cape Cod was too far away and requested a destination closer to home, eventually choosing Wells. Fyfe and his family, including Charlene and his father, Steven Fyfe, enjoyed their trip to Wells Beach in October. The trip included gift cards for meals, a ticket for a four-hour fishing charter and hotel rooms. Four representatives of Genentech, a company that that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines to treat serious and lifethreatening medical conditions, presented the Dream package during a gathering in the Oncology and Infusion department at WCGH. The San Francisco-based Genentech is a corporate sponsor of the Dream Foundation.
he start of school typically leads to a spike in teenage patients referred for concussion treatment. There is the hard knocks of football season, of course, and soccer players heading the ball and sometimes colliding midfield. Certainly, school sports can result in the kind of injuries that produce a concussion. But the spike in concussion referrals to Pen Bay Medical Center (PBMC) and Waldo County General Hospital (WCGH) each school year is more the result of injuries incurred during summer break. The reason: Concussions are a brain injury, and often the symptoms do not become evident until the returning students re-engage their brains in the classroom. “During the summer, when a child with a concussion can sleepin and maybe they’re not reading and writing as much, they might feel fine,” said Moriah Grant, OTD, who leads the concussion team in the Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy department at WCGH. “But as they are presented with the challenges of school, they might develop headaches, vision problems and fatigue. Other symptoms include increased anger See Concussion page 4
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Concussion Teams Manage Seasonal Spike in Young Patients Continued from page 3
cared for by Pen Bay Physical and Occupational Therapy. Young patients are treated by Pediatric Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy. At WCGH, concussion patients are treated by the Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy department. “During the first appointment, we have the patient tell the story of their injury and how their recovery has gone so far,” said Grant. “Then we do an assessment.” The concussion team then collaborates to develop a treatment plan. And it cannot be rushed, Grant said: “A concussion is a traumatic
brain injury that changes the way the brain functions.” Through it all, the focus remains on the student. “We don’t just treat the concussion,” she said. “We get the student back in the classroom ready to learn.” Pen Bay Physical and Occupational Therapy is located in the Physicians Building, 4 Glen Cove Drive, Suite 109, Rockport, and can be reached at 3015500. PBMC Pediatric Physical Therapy/ Occupational Therapy is located at 6 Madelyn Lane, Rockport and can be reached at 301-6380. WCGH Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy is located at 163 Northport Ave., Belfast. It can be reached at 505-4584.
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Address service requested Coastal Healthcare Alliance 118 Northport Ave | P.O. Box 287 | Belfast, Maine 04915
or depression, nausea, clumsiness, balance problems, double vision, sluggishness and a general state of confusion.” Research shows that 20 percent of all children in the U.S. will suffer a concussion before reaching adulthood. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlines information parents should know about concussions on its website at www.cdc.gov/headsup/schools/ parents. Once a child is diagnosed with a concussion, the concussion treatment specialists at PBMC and WCGH can help. At PBMC, adult patients are