Wiscasset Family Health owner Dr. Cortney Linville and office manager Shelley Strozier will have a shorter walk to their spring jump into the Sheepscot River this year. Linville is moving the practice from two leased buildings at 1 Lincoln and 66 Water St. to 35-37 Water St., on the river side.

Strozier expects to spend some lunchtimes nearby at Water Street Kitchen and Grill where sons Sam and Alex work. And best of all, Linville and Strozier said, the practice will have thousands more square feet.

The practice is up to about 3,000 patients, and new ones come through the door every day, Linville and Strozier said in an interview Feb. 26, about two weeks into packing for the move. Linville said she bought the former Ports of Wiscasset building from Coastal Enterprises (CEI) in November. Besides the bigger space, the move puts the practice in the heart of the made-over downtown. That’s part of why the first-time commercial property owner picked it. “We’re excited to be part of the revitalization. We’re going to try to keep up the positive energy (and) we’re kind of hoping people will park and see us and then walk around town.”

The practice will be at 35 Water, Linville said. As for 37, “I’m hoping to rent that space out to bring more services to the community.” The Hudson, New York native has gone from leasing to owning because she knew the practice needed a home, and she wanted to keep it in Wiscasset. “This community has been so good to us, and really has a lot of faith in the care that we provide. And I don’t, I don’t have any doubt that we can continue to thrive in a new space.”

Linville said the practice has an opioid recovery program of out-patient services the state recognizes as an opioid health home (OHH). The program includes counseling, case management and medically assisted treatment. “We help people with everything from filling out applications for insurance to figuring out rides, and peer support. A licensed social worker from Sweetser does the counseling, she said. “(The OHH) is one of the things I’m most proud of.”

Strozier and Linville said they, the rest of the staff, and patients are looking forward to the whole practice being on one floor. And Linville’s father Robert Linville is home in New York making “something special for the pediatric area,” his daughter said, smiling. She declined to say what. The staff is having input on furniture for the practice’s new space and is making the signs. Linville changed the name from Wiscasset Family Medicine when she bought it in 2017 from Dr. Ed Kitfield, ahead of his December 2018 retirement; but Linville never changed the sign. Linville will seek Wiscasset Historic Preservation Commission’s approval on signage March 10, Strozier said.

The practice is set to close at noon Thursday, March 12 and reopen at 8 a.m. Monday, March 16 at 35 Water St. An open house will run from 3 to 6 p.m. March 16.

At the new spot, two doors down from Sarah’s Cafe, park on or off-street next to the building, or in the lot opposite it, Linville said. 

The longtime triathlete and her husband, Swim Vacation owner Hopper McDonough, live in Bath with theater-loving daughter Linville, 15, tree-climbing, all-around adventurer son Gaffney, 12, and baseball-playing, skateboarder son Fletcher, 10, all McDonoughs.