Press Release

Release Date: September 26, 2008
HRCHC Contact: Communications Department
Telephone: (207) 861-3466
Email: Communications@HealthReach.org

Sarah Hurley, PA, joining Sheepscot Valley Health Center

COOPERS MILLS and WATERVILLE, ME – Sarah Hurley, PA will begin practicing as a physician assistant at Sheepscot Valley Health Center in October 2008. Hurley recently completed the University of New England’s Masters of Science degree in Physician Assistant Studies. She obtained an undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience, at Skidmore College, NY in 2004.

Hurley recently shared her reasons for selecting the community health care setting: "During my training, I enjoyed and was challenged by rural family medicine on Mt. Desert Island and women’s health in Bangor, Maine. I want to continue to provide quality healthcare and health education to people of all ages living in Maine’s medically underserved areas." Before attending the UNE Physician Assistant Program, Hurley spent "an eye opening year as part of a healthcare team in a therapeutic and sustainable farmingcommunity. There I assisted people with substance abuse or mental/emotional health diagnoses to seek purpose and reintegrate into society."Hurley shared her favorite quote by the Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Mary Oliver, which demonstrates her philosophy of life: "Tell me what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life."

Hurley joins four physicians, Carol Eckert, Lauren McClure, Roy Miller and Kathryn Wistar, as well as physician assistant, Ann Schaer, who provide healthcare and preventive services to 5,000 residents of Jefferson, Somerville, Washington, Whitefield, Windsor, and surrounding communities.

Sheepscot Valley Health Center (Coopers Mills) is a practice of HealthReach Community Health Centers, a system of eleven federally qualified health centers in Central and Western Maine. Dedicated providers deliver first-class healthcare to citizens in over 80 rural communities. To ensure access for everyone, HealthReach accepts Medicare, MaineCare, major insurances and offers an Affordable Care Program based on family size and income to uninsured and underinsured residents. A private, non-profit organization with a 30-year history, HealthReach is funded by patient fees, grants and individual donations.