Thanks to Bill Pearson for his article on Feb. 4 recapping the non-profit budget requests for the Town of Boothbay warrant. The meeting was held on Zoom. It was difficult to hear, and I spoke really quickly, so I'm not surprised that a few things I said were not clearly reported.

First, I am not the “executive director” of the Health Center. We can't afford one of those. I am a full-time volunteer, serving on the board of directors, currently acting as president of the board.

Second, in our plans for 2021, we do not need to recruit a social worker. Cathy Fisher, an LCSW, is already on the BRHC staff and doing a great job supporting community members. But it is true that we hope, with the help of the community, to add imaging capabilities for the Health Center in 2021 — both X-ray and ultrasound — since these services are not currently available on our peninsula.

Finally, I described two different popular programs that were not quite correctly reported. Our Fit, Flexible, & Strong Wellness and Exercise program for Seniors, run by Mary Baudo, meets three times/week at the Boothbay Railway Village (thank you BRV!). And, Dr. Teel's Reduce Cognitive Decline Research Study is a separate program that meets weekly via Zoom and monthly with Dr. Teel and is a year-long program requiring major lifestyle changes by its 30+ participants in order to reduce, and hopefully, to reverse cognitive decline, such as dementia and Alzheimer's.

The rest of the description Bill provided was correct. We are a nonprofit. We lose money keeping our community members healthy. We welcome same day walk-in patients, as well as patients with appointments. We have continued to be open six days/week throughout the pandemic, providing both face-to-face and telehealth office visits. We offered local COVID-19 testing last year before Walgreen's took that over. We provide local lab services, women's health, including family planning, psychiatric mental health services, geriatric and pediatric care, as well as family medicine. We treat wounds, illness, pain, infections, and tick bites. We provide preventive and maintenance care for patients with cardiac issues, diabetes, tick-borne diseases, and many other conditions. We have two primary care providers seeing patients every day, as well as a registered nurse, and four medical assistants. And, we are conveniently located in the Meadow Mall, next to the Family Dollar Store. As a local, independent, patient-run community Health Center, we are grateful for the support of the taxpayers of Boothbay, Southport, and we hope, this year, that Boothbay Harbor residents will finally be given the opportunity to provide taxpayer support to keep our residents, visitors, and employees healthy through the pandemic and beyond.