By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

When Stephany Jacques became interim and then new president of Bridgton Hospital, her focus was on realizing elements of a strategic plan, recruiting physicians and improving community relations.

Eight months later, she is seeing the process take shape.

Specialists are being added. Bridgton Hospital presently has four orthopedic physicians who make monthly visits here. Another orthopedic physician (Dr. Jen Waterman), whose specialty is foot and ankle, will begin seeing patients here at the end of April.

“She is going to be wonderful. I think one of the best parts about the people we are recruiting is they have a passion to come to Bridgton,” Jacques said. “It’s not someone coming in as part of the system saying you’re going to be assigned this. They’re seeking the opportunity to come here and serve this community. I think that’s really important.”

As is the national trend, recruitment of specialists and primary care physicians to rural hospitals remains challenging.

“We continue to have struggles with the work force. We’re no different than any other rural community that’s looking to keep care close to home. This (the addition of Dr. Waterman) will really complete our full complement of orthopedic services in Bridgton.”

Some orthopedic surgeons are exploring the possibility of performing surgeries at BH, enabling patients to be served close to home.

“We’re working on getting equipment needed. Dr. (William) Zimmerman does some surgeries already,” Jacques noted. “We’re making some ground there.”

Another positive step is adding a cardiologist (Dr. Jared Tobolski), who will start seeing patients “closer to May.”

“We’ll have cardiology here once a week,” Jacques said. “We are actively recruiting someone for GI (gastro-intestinal) specific for Bridgton and Rumford Hospitals full-time. GI doctors are very hard to recruit, but we are committed to getting someone out here. We started with two days a month of GI and over the past few months, we’ve been able to offer up to seven to nine days a month. We’re getting there.”

With Central Maine Healthcare’s new partnership with New England Cancer Specialists, extra resources will be available to local oncology patients, Jacques noted.

Starting in April, Bridgton Hospital will be launching Senior Life Solutions, an intensive outpatient program to provide services, such as medication management, individual and group counseling, geared toward those 65 and older.

“Working with Crooked River Counseling and Lake Region Recovery Center, together we can work to figure out how we can improve patient outcomes,” she said. “Being able to be connected and make those connections for patients definitely helps with positive outcomes.”

In an extensive interview with The News last Friday, Jacques addressed changes occurring at area physician practices and offered thoughts on taking the role as president and challenges ahead.

Practice closing — With the resignation of Dr. Eric Slayton, Jacques said Fryeburg Family Medicine (253 Bridgton Road) will be closing.

“We will definitely miss him. It’s been a battle keeping physicians in that practice,” she said. “Unfortunately, we made the business decision to close the Fryeburg practice.”

Letters have been sent to patients regarding the closure and assisting patients with finding a new primary care provider, Jacques said. Dr. Lisa McAllister will move to North Bridgton Family Practice and Walk-In Clinic. A new physician assistant, Cassandra Dee, will be joining the practice in April.

“We’ve really focused on recruiting to the practices, making sure we have better access to care,” said Jacques, pointing out when she first became interim president, two new providers were added to the Naples practice, which is accepting new patients. “They’ve (Naples Family Practice) ramped up quite nicely, as we expected that they would.”

Q. Since you were named Bridgton Hospital president, what has been your main focus?

Jacques: I’ve had a strong emphasis on getting out in the community (she has manned informational tables at Music on Main and the Lake Region Recovery Center Rally, while also running in the Christmas Jingle to benefit Bridge Crossing). We (Bridgton Hospital) are trying to get out there and have a presence. In fact, this morning we just kicked off our very first Friends of Bridgton Hospital Advisory Committee. It’s very exciting. Our goal is to enhance collaboration between Bridgton Hospital and the community to improve wellness in the community. It’s really pulling together a group of people who have a passion for what’s happening in the community and how we can better collaborate to make this a healthier community. We’ve received great feedback this morning. A lot of that is from community connections I’ve been making over the past few months. Most importantly, providing education. We’re working on providing diabetes education at the Community Center. We’re working with the Harrison Food Pantry on setting up opportunities for free blood pressure screenings. We’re taking some services outside these walls and into different parts of the community. We’re letting people know what we have to offer.

Q. What questions or comments have you received while out at community events?

Jacques: People are always happy to see us out in the community, especially with our booths. It gives them a chance to meet the Leadership Team. I appreciate the honest feedback from the community because not everything is perfect. I don’t want to hear just the good. I need to know where we may be coming up short. A lot of questions are around the specialty services, such as, ‘I haven’t been able to get in for a cardiology appointment. Why do I have to travel?’ Having these opportunities to speak with people is really important.

Another is primary care. It seems to be at the top of the list. We’ve made some improvements, but again, it’s three steps forward and two steps back. We continue to work at it. Our Leadership Team has a strong commitment to continue to work for those services and to provide that here.

Q. What do you see as the biggest challenges for you moving forward?

Jacques: Work force challenges. Recruiting and retention. Making sure that we’re creating a place that people want to stay. I think it’s a great time to be part of the Bridgton community. You can see growth everywhere and the investment being made in the community. When we get people here to interview — whether it is for our frontline staff or physicians — when you get them out to see the community and the things that are happening and the things that are coming, that’s very promising.

Q. Is it difficult juggling president responsibilities at two hospitals (Bridgton and Rumford)?

Jacques: It’s challenging at times. I rely on the Leadership Teams at both places. We’re very fortunate to have a strong Leadership Team at both hospitals. If there is something happening at one community or the other, I feel it is really important to have a presence. I want to be there. I don’t want to miss anything. It’s really important to me. There are times when there is something happening in both places, but we divide and conquer. Overall, it has been good and doable. When you love what you do, you make it happen.

Q. What have you enjoyed most so far?

Jacques: What I’ve enjoyed most is getting to build relationships with the communities. It has been such an experience and it’s a privilege. It’s an honor to get to know people in the community — business owners, volunteers, those running non-profit organizations. To be part of that is a big deal. I really enjoy getting to know people, trying to find out what needs to be a top priority for next year. Hands down, being part of the community has been my favorite part.

Q. Least enjoyable?

Jacques: It’s the challenges of really trying hard to recruit and get people here to see what we see and what we know about the magic of the communities.

Q. What has been the biggest learning point?

Jacques: Communication. I’ve always thought of myself to be a pretty good communicator. I have room for improvement. I don’t think we can ever communicate enough. As we talked about earlier, assuming people know what services we have here. People don’t know. You have to really over communicate. You can never assume anything. I need to make sure we are sharing all of the information about the hospital. I want people to feel welcomed. If you have a problem or if something didn’t go right or you have concerns or questions, come see me. I want to talk to you. I think that’s really important for people to feel that trust, to build trust and to have them reach out. People can call the main office and set up an appointment. If I can make time, I absolutely will make the time because truly, people are the priority.