Blue Willow Counseling opens Augusta, Portland sites

Blue Willow Counseling, a Lewiston-based mental health and substance abuse agency, recently opened offices in Augusta and Portland, according to the agency.

The agency has been providing mental health and substance abuse counseling to residents of Androscoggin County for the past 16 years. Its expansion to Cumberland and Kennebec counties is in partnership with Maine Pretrial Services to provide substance abuse treatment and case management for drug court participants.

In all locations, Blue Willow provides individual mental health and substance abuse counseling, adult case management, an intensive outpatient treatment program and group substance abuse counseling.

Recently, to enhance treatment services to drug court participants, Blue Willow has become certified to provide Moral Reconation Therapy, an evidence-based program recommended for people involved with the criminal justice system.

Franklin Community Health Network, Western Maine Health to share CEO

The Western Maine Health board of trustees and the Franklin Community Health Network board of directors, recently voted to move forward with a shared-CEO organizational model.

That means that Timothy A. Churchill, the president and CEO of Western Maine Health, in Norway, who was appointed interim CEO of Franklin Community Health Network in February 2016, will assume that latter role permanently.

Clint Boothby, chairman of the FCHN board, said in a news release that the arrangement has improved the financial condition of his group and led to its hospital being honored as a top rural hospital by the Leapfrog Group.

Churchill has been the president and CEO of Western Maine Health and its flagship Stephens Memorial Hospital since 1996. Before that, he held various executive posts in the health care industry dating back to the 1980s. His first leadership role was as CEO of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Philadelphia in the early 1990s. He also has been president of the Osteopathic Medical Center of Philadelphia and president of Windber Medical Center in Windber, Pennsylvania. Born in Lewiston and raised in Waterville, he holds an Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Maine and a bachelor’s degree from King’s College in Pennsylvania.

DFD Russell Medical Center hires physician assistant

Kassie Skvorak, a physician assistant, joins DFD Russell Medical Center’s Monmouth and Turner locations

MONMOUTH — DFD Russell Medical Centers has hired physician assistant Kassie Skvorak, who is seeing patients of all ages at the practice’s Turner and Monmouth locations.

Skvorak holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Science degree in physician assistant studies from the University of New England. She is a member of the American Academy of Physician Assistants and the Maine Association of Physician Assistants.

Skvorak specializes in preventive care, pediatrics, women’s health and adult medicine. Her services to patients include health education and small office procedures such as biopsies and other skin care procedures.

Prior to joining DFD Russell Medical Centers, Skvorak worked as a family medicine physician assistant at Central Maine Healthcare and an emergency medical technician in the Raymond Fire and Rescue Department.

Camden National inaugurates person-to-person payment system

Last week Camden National Bank launched Pay Up, a person-to-person payment system.

Pay Up makes squaring up with friends and family as fast as a debit card payment, according to the bank. The service is free through Camden National Bank’s online and mobile banking platforms. Money can be sent to almost anyone with a U.S. bank account, and the payment is available for the recipient to accept within minutes using his or her own debit card or account information.

Augusta Tractor Supply donates 50 bags of pet food

The Tractor Supply Co. store in Augusta has donated 50 bags of pet food to the Augusta-based Kennebec Valley Humane Society to feed dogs and cats in need of adoption, according to a news release from the company.

In addition to the pet food donation, the Augusta Tractor Supply hosts pet adoption events throughout the year.

Big Brothers Big Sisters gets $3,000 programs grant

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine recently was awarded a $3,000 grant from Skowhegan Savings Charitable Contributions Foundation in support of school-based mentoring programs in Somerset County, according to a news release from BBBS of Mid-Maine.

The donation will help fund matches at BBBS programs that link student mentors, of Bigs, from Skowhegan High School with elementary-level students, or Littles, at Margaret Chase Smith School and Bloomfield Elementary School. The money also will be used to buy items for the program’s activity bins used by the pairs at both locations.

Karen Hart, Skowhegan Savings assistant vice president and community banker, and Fawn Wentworth, marketing officer, recently met with Big and Little matches to see firsthand how the foundation’s gift is helping local youth at Bloomfield Elementary School in Skowhegan.

Waterville financial adviser, wins industry recognition

Certified financial planner Brian Bernatchez, an independent LPL Financial advisor and managing director at Golden Pond Wealth Management in Waterville, has been awarded membership in the 2018 LPL’s Chairman’s Council.

The award is presented to less than 2 percent of the firm’s approximately 15,000 advisors nationwide, accoding to the firm.

Compiled from contributed releases