Philanthropist Paul Coulombe’s gift of $1.1 million for a new health improvement center at LincolnHealth St. Andrews campus has transformed the facility and sets the stage to transform lives. The community will have an opportunity to view the changes, hear about the new programs and thank Coulombe personally at an opening celebration at the St. Andrews campus on Monday, May 18 at 3 p.m.

When Lincoln County Healthcare (LCH) announced its decision to cease inpatient and emergency services at St. Andrews, it also announced its vision to expand wellness and outpatient programs at the Boothbay Harbor facility. Last summer, LCH opened an expanded wellness/rehabilitation center in the old acute care wing, which offers classes and programs designed to keep people well and active. It also opened a new wound care center and an infusion center at St. Andrews, which offer new local options for these specific outpatient treatments.

With Coulombe’s gift, LCH will expand its health improvement services to tackle the community’s social and behavioral support needs across a broad spectrum of age groups.

Located adjacent to the wellness/rehab department, the Coulombe Center for Health Improvement opened its doors on May 1. The new center offers meeting rooms, kitchen space, classrooms and private consultation rooms.

Lincoln County Healthcare Vice President Cindy Wade said Coulombe Center Coordinator Ani Pat McKenney will work with local groups on the peninsula to coordinate and facilitate services. “We will be looking at what is being done and what services are being provided so we can define the gaps,” Wade said.

“The goal is to augment services, not duplicate existing services, and provide those missing services the community needs,” LCH Marketing Vice President Scott Shott said.

Wade said the Boothbay Community Resources Council’s Food for Thought program has already moved into the center’s kitchen space.

The Coulombe Center will also provide behavioral health services that have been unavailable on the peninsula. “Think of the behavioral focus like a barbell,” Shott said. “At one end there are the adolescent risky behaviors and on the other the needs of older adults.”

Maine Behavioral Health’s WISE program (Wellness Independence in a Supportive Environment) will be housed in its own space and will offer day support programs, as well as private counseling for adults 50 years and older with long-term mental health needs. Wade said the WISE program will be offered Monday, Wednesday and Friday and its future schedule will be dependent upon local use and need.

“People will have the opportunity to work with a social worker on their own personal needs or they might work in a group on lifestyle issues. It’s all about getting them to a place where they are stable in the community and stable in their own health and wellness,” Wade said.

Coulombe’s gift has also financed the renovation of the St. Andrews Urgent Care Center, which now has improved work space and better privacy for patients.

“Our push is to get people here to use these new offerings and facilities. We are offering something we know is needed, now we hope people will use it,” Shott said.

The opening celebration is open to the public.