PCHC ribbon cutting kicks off community resource fair

August 17, 2006
By Greta Sproul

Governor John Baldacci was the featured speaker at the Penobscot County Health Center ribbon cutting ceremony last Wednesday. The event was held at the former Helen Hunt School on Brunswick Street, the future site of PCHC’s proposed expanded community medical facility. As he took the podium, Baldacci praised the efforts of PCHC, Old Town Family Practice and the Penobscot County Transition Team in sponsoring the day-long event at the erstwhile elementary school. 

“This community is resilient and close-knit,” Baldacci told the sizeable crowd gathered for the event. “This community and the state are moving forward to make sure that no one falls through the cracks.”

The proposed new facility constitutes a $5.9 million expansion to Old Town Family Practice, which will make it the premier community medical facility for the city. The expansion come at a time when more than 475 mill workers remain unemployed in the wake of the G-P mill closure last March. In expanding both their Family Practice facility and the scope of medical services it offers, PCHC hopes to address the needs of displaced mill workers and others regardless of their ability to pay for medical services.

“We want to be here for the people of Old Town, Milford, Bradley, for all of the people of this community,” Dr. Christopher Ritter, medical director of OTFP, has said about the proposed expansion. “This building should remain a first class facility for many years to come.”

Before taking part in the actual ribbon-cutting ceremony, Governor Baldacci also took time to addressed local concerns about the situation surrounding the former G-P mill. After telling the crowd that the discussions regarding sale of the mill had reached a “breakthrough,” Baldacci added that there should be positive news within the next seven to ten days.

The governor’s visit to Old Town came one day after State Economic Development Commissioner Jack Cashman met with union officials at Pace 80 on Main Street.

“Things are moving slowly,” Cashman had said the previous week, “but they are progressing with all due diligence. We hope to have an announcement soon.”

Among the local residents attending the celebration/resource fair on Brunswick Street was Jim Bosse, who was an employee at the mill for 41 years. Bosse spoke to television and newspaper reporters during the course of the event, voicing his frustration with the slow pace of the sale process.

“I’m not blaming the Governor,” he said. “I would vote for Governor Baldacci again in a heartbeat, whether the mill reopens or not, because he’s done more than any other governor would. He’s really put himself out there, him and Jack Cashman both. It’s G-P that’s dragging their heels. They don’t want to sell. They don’t want the competition.”

Bosse, who is 61 years old, added that he holds out little hope that he will be able to find another job in the area.

“There’s no sense of family or loyalty in business anymore,” he said. “It’s all corporate. Why are they going to pay someone like me twenty-two dollars an hour if they can get someone younger for less than half as much?”

Others who attended last Wednesday’s event seemed to take interest in the forty-plus booths set up by area organizations and businesses such as Bangor Adult Education, Penquis CAP, ME Center for Women, Work, and Community, Eastern Maine Development Cooperation, and Pfizer, Inc. Old Town-based organizations Crossroads Ministries and Old Town/Orono YMCA were also on hand with information for attendees.

Following the departure of Governor Baldacci, Senator Olympia Snow and United States Representative Michael Michaud made appearances at the event.