At the Oasis Free Clinic in Brunswick, the rapport between nurse practitioner Bronwyn Sewell and patient Alex Vale is evident. They laugh even as Vale, who prefers the pronouns they/them, describes pain they’re experiencing.
Vale has been coming to Oasis since last summer. Before that, they were living in Florida, and had health insurance.
“I lived a relatively normal, I think what you would consider to be standard lifestyle at the time,” Vale said. “I had a job and a car and a partner and an apartment.”
Then, Vale’s dad got sick. They became his caretaker, and within the span of a year, Vale says they lost it all: their dad, their job, their partner, home, car, and insurance.
Advertisement
“So this has been a dramatic, like, falling off a cliff,” they said.
Vale moved back home to Maine, feeling physically sick and also needing mental health support. Despite not having insurance, they were able to get that care at Oasis. The clinic provides free primary, dental, and optometry care, and up to 12 weeks of counseling. And because it doesn’t accept insurance, it can offer longer appointment times, which Vale said has made a huge difference.
“I was working hard leading up to the point where I decided to take care of my dad, and this stuff could happen to anybody,” Vale said. “And like, this place here, was able to recognize like, here’s a person who wants to get well and had the resources to actually like, just put a base underneath me.”
“It takes a lot for a patient to call us, to need help,” said Oasis nurse practitioner Michelle Barber. “We often have patients say, I never thought I’d need a free clinic.”
Barber said Oasis is getting those calls more often. Some patients are asylum seekers, others are traditional Mainers.
Advertisement
Patty Wight
/
Maine Public
Oasis nurse practitioner Michelle Barber.
“People who are underemployed, working either as lobster fishermen, or self employed doing odd jobs, or working at a gas station,” she said. “They are people who make enough to survive.”
Advertisement
But earn too much to qualify for MaineCare and not enough to afford health insurance. To meet the need, Executive Director Anita Ruff said Oasis is expanding into a larger space in Brunswick this summer, with the help of federal funding.
“And so our hope is that by adding more space that we’ll see at least 25% more patients in the medical clinic,” Ruff said. “Our hope is to add 50% more patients in the dental clinic and really begin to serve more of the need in the community than we do right now.”
Oasis is among a handful of clinics in Maine that offer free care. Two others in Rockland and Ellsworth said they’re also seeing high demand. It comes at a time when there are more options for coverage. The state expanded MaineCare in 2019, and the Affordable Care Act’s online marketplace has offered subsidized health insurance plans for a decade.
“I wouldn’t say we’re losing ground,” said Ann Woloson, Executive Director of Consumers for Affordable Health Care. “I’d say we have more to do.”
Woloson said health care costs are rising and need to be addressed. But she also suspects that some people are missing out on affordable plans because choosing insurance can be confusing.
Advertisement
Patty Wight
/
Maine Public
Oasis Executive Director Anita Ruff said the clinic is expanding into a larger space in Brunswick this summer, with the help of federal funding.
“And are maybe sticker shocked by what they first see but don’t understand how much subsidy might be available to them and that they have limited cost sharing. Like, very low deductibles, if any,” she said.
Advertisement
But Anita Ruff at Oasis said there’s another factor beyond insurance that’s driving up demand for their services: a lack of primary care providers. She said when an Oasis patient qualifies for MaineCare, the clinic used to transition them to providers in the community. But Ruff said they’ve stopped doing that.
“Because right now there’s nowhere for them to transition to in the community,” she said.
Taryn Walker, who has auto-immune issues, is one of those patients. “Every single place that I called, they said they’re not taking new patients under MaineCare,” Walker said. “Every single place.”
Walker said as she tried unsuccessfully to find a doctor, she started to panic.
“Does this mean I’m not going to have care again?” she said she thought. “Oh no. I’m not going to be able to go to Oasis anymore and I can’t find any place that will take me, so therefore I’m back to not having any care.”
Advertisement
Walker was relieved when Oasis told her she could continue to go to the clinic for primary care.
“I’m just so grateful for the care,” she said. “If I had great insurance, I would still want to go there for the care that I get.”
Walker said she’s had all kinds of insurance – including employer-based and marketplace plans. But the care she’s received at Oasis has been the best.
On March 2, Spurwink will join community partners for a special viewing of Building Hope: Ending Homelessness in Maine at the University of Southern Maine’s McGoldrick Hall.
Directed by Richard Kane and produced by Melody Lewis-Kane, the film shines a compassionate light on the realities of Maine’s homelessness crisis. Through deeply personal stories, Building Hope explores the challenges faced by unhoused individuals and families, while highlighting the hope that emerges when communities come together to create solutions. It’s been praised for its honesty, dignity, and inspiring message: change is possible when we work together.
Following the screening, a panel of local leaders and advocates will discuss the film and the ongoing effort in Maine to end homelessness. Panelists will include Katherine Rodney, Director of Spurwink’s Living Room Crisis Center; Cullen Ryan, Chief Strategic Officer at 3Rivers; Donna Wampole, Assistant Professor of Social Work at USM; and Preble Street staff. Catherine Ryder, Spurwink’s Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives, will bring her expertise in trauma-informed care and community collaboration to the panel as the moderator.
Keon Johnson had 21 points and 10 rebounds as the Maine Celtics defeated the Windy City Bulls 122-87 in an NBA G League game on Sunday afternoon at the Portland Expo.
Hason Ward scored 16 points and Jalen Bridges 14 for Maine (13-15), which had seven players score in double digits. Bridges drained four 3-pointers for the Celtics, who shot 13 for 28 (46.4%) from beyond the arc.
Max Shulga dished out 11 assists and scored nine points.
Maine led 33-18 after one quarter 72-36 at halftime.
Advertisement
Keyshawn Bryant scored a game-high 25 points for Windy City (12-12).
AUGUSTA, Maine (WABI) – An emotional day from Fairfield to Augusta, but felt throughout Maine and beyond, as state officials, community members and loved ones honored the lives of two Department of Transportation workers who tragically died in the field.
Maine DOT Commissioner Dale Doughty described the accident as “the nightmare that commissioners worry about.”
While working on Interstate 95 in January, Maine DOT workers James “Jimmy” Brown, 60, and Dwayne Campbell, 51, died after a driver failed to brake at a stop sign and crashed into a tractor-trailer traveling on the highway.
To honor the men’s commitment to public service and their legacy as fathers, outdoorsmen and Mainers, a procession including DOT officials, family members and more traveled to the Augusta Civic Center Saturday for a memorial service.
Advertisement
Among those in attendance was Gov. Janet Mills, who remarked on who Brown and Campbell were and their dedication to their profession.
“Jimmy, as you know, worked for the Maine Department of Transportation for 12 years. Dwayne for more than 23 years,” Mills described. “We could count on Jimmy and Dwayne just as we could count on the 1,600 Maine dot workers who keep our roads and bridges safe every day.”
Brown was known for his humor and love of fishing, cars and his children.
Campbell got his start in the DOT by following in his father’s footsteps. Mills said at the service that Campbell loved his daughters and time spent outdoors.
For Commissioner Doughty, losses like this hit hard because of the closely bonded “family business” that DOT is.
Advertisement
That family expands past state lines, as departments of transportation from New Hampshire and Vermont were present to show their support.
New Hampshire DOT State Maintenance Engineer Alan Hanscom said he called Maine DOT just hours after hearing of the accident to see what his crews could do to help.
“My employees are impacted or subject to the same dangers that Maine and every other state is,” Hanscom said of the importance of his attendance. “I have an employee that was killed in a motor vehicle crash some years ago, so it kind of hits home.”
Saturday’s event served not only as a commemoration but also as a call to action. Despite DOT’s training, Doughty says it is rendered useless if motorists put right-of-way employees in danger through reckless or distracted driving.
Advertisement
Hanscom expanded: “People don’t realize that this is our office. You’re driving through our office space. We’d like you to give us some consideration and slow down and be mindful of where we are. Give us a little respect.”
Doughty mentioned that these dangers extend beyond DOT workers to everyone who does roadside work. Because of this, he says, agencies must join forces to develop solutions.
“I really think it’s time, and we have a meeting coming up in April, where we pull all agencies and all companies that work in the right-of-way, contractors, utilities, everyone to start to talk about that message,” Doughty said.
On the podium, Doughty told audiences: “Please help us carry forward their memory, not only with tears, but with action.”
On Thursday, the Joint Standing Committee on Transportation authorized the Maine Turnpike Authority to conduct a pilot program for speed enforcement in work zones. The legislation is now headed to the House and Senate.
