Finding summer doctors, music therapy and inspiration from Gretzky
Our focus on health care looks at some ongoing challenges in new ways.
Laurie Schreiber, a senior writer, talked to Mount Desert Island Hospital about its staffing challenges. When the population swells in the summer, a byproduct of 3 million visitors at Acadia National Park as well as summer residents, the hospital has a corresponding need for more physicians. It has developed an innovative way of bolstering the staff with people who enjoy being out of a city and near the seaside. In this case, the doctors and residents are “on loan” from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. I'm well acquainted with the summer heat in Philadelphia, so I have no doubt this is a sweet perk for the Penn students and physicians.
Renee Cordes, another senior writer, explores the area of music therapy. While still a small sector of the health care industry, music therapy has a prominent spot in the lives of many Mainers, particularly those with cognitive issues. While Renee was reporting the story, a related company, MedRhythms, a digital startup that specializes in neurologic music therapy, landed $5 million in venture capital to help it grow.
Maureen Milliken, a staff writer, talks to Peter Hayes, CEO of the Healthcare Purchaser Alliance of Maine, which compiles information to guide businesses and organizations that purchase health care. At a time when the nonprofit's purchaser members are looking for ways to cut expenses without affecting quality, it helps to be nimble, Hayes says. He likens it to hockey great Wayne Gretzky's view that you always have to be thinking ahead — I think his actual quote was, “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.” Hayes tells Maureen, “That's what we're doing. We're now looking three or five years down the road. Where are we going? What tools do we need?”
For the “On the Record” feature, Deborah Bronk, the new president and CEO of Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, was kind enough to answer our questions about the nonprofit's direction after the 2016 death of its longtime director, Graham Schimmield, and what's ahead. She talks about the need for all marine sciences institutions to find new sources of funding. “We live in a time where federal funding for ocean science is flat or declining,” she says. “While Bigelow Laboratory scientists have success rates for securing federal research grants that are well above the national average, federal support alone is not sufficient to support a modern laboratory. One of my most important jobs will be to continue to diversify our portfolio of funding sources to include new support through our educational programs and nascent commercial activities.”
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