Chip Light owes his life to Leavitt’s Mill Health Center in Buxton.
Light, who doesn’t have health insurance, contacted the center after his skin turned yellow, even though he wasn’t feeling bad. Leavitt’s sent him to a specialist, who identified his abdominal cancer.
“I’m still alive. They’re a big part of the reason,” Light said about Leavitt’s Mill Health Center.
Patricia Leavitt, a nurse practitioner, founded the health center in 2003 at 1013 Narragansett Trail in Buxton. It opened on a Labor Day weekend, earlier than planned when a woman called. “I’m really sick,” Leavitt said the woman told her.
The woman received treatment and was cured of a kidney infection. She was the first of nearly 1,800 visits at the health center.
Leavitt, the executive director, saw a need for the health center while working in a private medical practice and in Portland emergency rooms at Maine Medical Center and Brighton Medical Center. She said many patients without insurance sought emergency help.
“If we could have got it a week before, it wouldn’t have been an emergency,” Leavitt said.
“It needed doing,” she said about building a free health center.
The health center can treat patients with acute illnesses like sore throats, minor injuries, ear infections, backaches, strains, rashes and colds. The volunteer staff can also monitor and offer maintenance programs for patients with chronic illnesses, including high blood pressure, diabetes and asthma. Leavitt can give physical exams.
The health center does provide free non-narcotic medicine.
For patients who need a specialist or surgery, the health center sends them to doctors who are willing to help. “We have a lot of good cooperating specialists who help us,” Leavitt said.
During a routine exam, the health center found that a Waterboro patient had developed a bad heart murmur and needed help fast. “He got admitted to a hospital and had surgery,” said Leavitt, who added that he wouldn’t have lived another 24 hours.
The health center serves a wide area with patients coming from communities in York and Cumberland counties. The health center has 436 patients and Marcia Bergman, a part time health center administrator, said 84.8 percent have no insurance.
Many others don’t have adequate insurance, but no one is turned away. Leavitt said there are patients with $5,000 deductibles who would face paying medical bills from their own pockets. “That’s a tough pill to swallow,” Leavitt said.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported on Aug. 30 that 15.7 percent of people nationwide were uninsured last year. Between 2003 and 2004, the number without insurance rose by 800,000 to 45.8 million.
Bergman said the health center is adding about five new patients each week. Most of the patients are from Buxton (40 percent). Hollis has the second highest percentage of patients (10.5 percent) and Gorham third (8.2 percent).
The health center doesn’t charge for its services but does accept donations. Some patients return as volunteers or donate talent. Light, a carpenter, built a handicap railing and a coat rack for the health center.
The health center relies on donations and doesn’t receive government funding. Bonita Breault, a former state legislator who serves as president of the board of directors at the health center, said the health center doesn’t have bureaucracy. “Ours is unusual in that it receives no state funding,” Breault said. “I can’t believe we’re doing this with donations. It’s a wonderful story.”
The Narragansett Number One Foundation of Buxton has been a benefactor. The foundation recently gave a $6,000 grant for preventive health screening, which includes pap tests for women.
The health center volunteer staff has four nurse practitioners; three nurses; a doctor, who is a mental health counselor; a doctor, who is a physical therapist, and student interns. Dr. George Stockwell of Buxton serves on the board of directors.
The health center is adding dental care to their services. It already has had two dental clinics and cleaned teeth for 10 patients. It plans two more clinics next month and hopes to attract a dentist and hygienists for their program. Narragansett Number One Foundation has also provided a grant for dental equipment.
Bergman, a former volunteer who is part time, became the only paid employee in March. Leavitt, the executive director, works full time as office manager for her husband, Pat Leavitt, who owns Gorham Tractor in Buxton.
The health center has 25 volunteers. “The volunteers are amazing,” Breault said.
Leavitt echoed Breault’s praise of volunteers. She said volunteers are dedicated and there is no absenteeism. “Every volunteer takes such pride in this place,” Leavitt said.
Dearborn Construction of Buxton provides free space for the health center and renovated the building. Plumbing, carpentry and electrical work were all donated by the community. Grants provided cabinets, furniture, exam tables and instruments.
The health center has two exam rooms, a main office and a waiting room. Even artwork on the wall was donated. The health center shares a kitchen with Trading Places, a storage business that shares the building with the health center. The health center also has free use of a storage stall. The total annual budget is about $35,000, which includes medicine, lab tests, various supplies and telephone.
The health center was named for the historic Leavitt’s Mill, which was located on a brook off Groveville Road, and Patricia’s Leavitt’s late brother-in-law who died in an auto accident at age 62. Leavitt’s Mill Stream runs through the backyard of Patricia and her husband on Turkey Lane in Buxton.
The clinic is open from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesdays; from 3 to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays; from 1 to 5 p.m. on Thursdays; and by appointment from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. It is closed on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays.
For more information, call 929-6455 or mail@leavittsmill.org.
(leavitt’s 1) – Patricia Leavitt, on the left, and Marcia Bergman of Leavitt’s Mill Health Center in Buxton.
Patricia Leavitt, founder and executive director of Leavitt’s Mill Health Center in Buxton
Patricia Leavitt, on the left, and Marcia Bergman checking records at Leavitt’s Mill Health Center.
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