The board, staff, and supporters of the Boothbay Region Health Center are providing a free dinner to anyone interested in hearing an update about the Health Center, which is now in its second year of operation. The community dinner will be held at the Boothbay Fire Station on Tuesday, Sept. 17 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

The evening will begin with brief updates from Medical Director Steve Cook and Clinical Care Manager Robyn Ham. You'll also hear briefly from board members and from medical providers. We'll be honoring Carl Hamrin, one of our founding board members, who succumbed to Lyme disease last month. And we'll provide an update on the Center's diagnosis and treatment of tick-borne diseases. Board member Stephanie Hawke will introduce our new Health Center Advisory Group and hand out a list of support activities and tasks that we hope community members will be happy to take on. We're hoping to recruit 50 advisors. And, if each advisor is willing to do one focused task this year, the Center will be able to operate cost effectively and continue to offer excellent primary health care at the lowest possible prices.

Dinner and conviviality will follow the brief remarks, with lots of opportunity for mingling, getting all your questions answered, signing up for programs (e.g. our Fit, Flexible & Strong Wellness program), and providing feedback and suggestions for future services (nutrition counseling, acupuncture, and so on).

The Boothbay Region Health Center is located at 185 Townsend Ave., in the Meadow Mall at the end of the corridor next to the Family Dollar store. The Health Center is open seven days/week through Columbus Day, and will be open Monday through Saturday until mid-May. The medical providers are: Dr. Steve Cook, Dr. Allan “Chip” Teel, and Family Nurse Practitioners Brett Auclaire, Susan Lord, Jennie McNeil and Becky Traquair.

Reminder: Dr. Schacknow's talk on cataract surgery will also be held on Sept. 17 at noon at the Community Center.