Many patients at Boothbay Region Health Center will see a familiar face after the new year, when Dr. Stephen Cook joins the family practice.

A native of Tenants Harbor and the son of a lobsterman, Cook practiced as an emergency room physician at St. Andrews Hospital for eight years, until the end of 2013.

Cook said his time in the emergency room was a highlight of his medical career because he could take the time to get to know the people. “People were worried about their symptoms and they were coming for answers. Taking the time to listen was time well spent,” he explained.

After leaving St. Andrews, Cook and Patty Seybold, president of the board of Boothbay Region Health Care, formed an Empowered Patients' study group. The group met twice each month and covered a range of topics. Its purpose was to give patients the tools to participate collaboratively with their healthcare providers.

But Cook wasn’t ready to retire from medical practice and took a job in Arizona helping members of the Tohono O'odham Nation at a small hospital on their reservation in the Sonoran desert.

Many of the patients he saw were impoverished, lacking good nutrition and were often undocumented, since the area was only 18 miles from the Mexican border. In some instances, border patrol agents served as translators when they brought those with injuries to the hospital.

“It reinforced what I learned at St. Andrews,” he said. ”It’s important to be able to talk to people and understand their challenges. It sharpened my skills.”

In 2016, Cook returned to medicine in Maine, practicing at an occupational health clinic in Brunswick. There, he evaluated musculoskeletal injuries which he credits with broadening the spectrum of his clinical experience.

Cook, of East Boothbay, is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Cincinnati Medical School. For five years, he was a resident in general surgery at Maine Medical Center before returning to Cincinnati for a two-year fellowship in vascular surgery. Cook practiced in Bangor before coming to St. Andrews in 2005.

He described joining the Health Center as “an ideal transition for me,” saying it provides the opportunity to listen to and focus on patients.

For Seybold, having Cook join the team is fitting, considering his early participation in discussions about the family practice.

“I interviewed over 100 local people in 2013 as part of our ‘Save St. Andrews’ project,” she told the Boothbay Register. “Many of the people I talked with extolled the virtues of one of the ER doctors, Steve Cook. Dr. Cook was involved in the strategic planning for the Boothbay Region Health Center. It is, in part, his vision that we are implementing.”

Cook sees his new role as the ideal job. “This is not medicine in a vacuum,” he said. “At the Health Center each of us has our own strengths and with discussion and planning we can put our minds together to give patients the best care.”

Seybold welcomed Cook, saying “We are thrilled that Dr. Cook has agreed to join our practice. He has a caring and nurturing style, along with vast experience in dealing with difficult and unexpected conditions. He loves spending time with patients to hear their stories and to help them understand their conditions. “

At the time Cook left St. Andrews, Dr. Steve Feder of Boothbay Harbor wrote to the Boothbay Register with what is now a prophetic letter to the editor. In it, Feder said, “After conversations about patients with Dr. Cook, I would often find myself thinking how terrific it would be if he were a pediatrician or a primary care physician, since I would surely be so glad to have him taking care of my family.”

Starting next month, area families will be able to do exactly that.