Press Release

Release Date: April 1, 2010
HRCHC Contact: Communications Department
Telephone: (207) 861-3466
Email: Communications@HealthReach.org

New medical provider joins Coopers Mills practice

Connie Coggins, President/CEO of HealthReach Community Health Centers, welcomes Deirdre Vander Schaaf, FNP to the medical provider team at Sheepscot Valley Health Center in Coopers Mills. Vander Schaaf will be starting at the practice on April 26.

She brings a keen interest in global health and environmentalism, having studied in a number of areas of the US and countries throughout the world. In addition, she volunteered in Monteverde, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic as well as for the San Francisco to Los Angeles AIDS ride.  

“I am drawn to the core values of HealthReach with its emphasis on serving the needs of rural communities with quality and affordable health care,” states Ms. Vander Schaaf.

Ms. Vander Schaaf completed the Master of Nursing Program at University of Southern Maine in 2009. She received a Bachelor of Nursing degree with a minor in Economics from USM in 2005. She is a member of the Maine Nurse Practitioners Association and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. Her clinical interests include family medicine.

Ms. Vander Schaaf joins physicians Carol Eckert, Roy Miller, and Kathryn Wistar as well as physician assistants Alison Welsh and Ann Schaer who provide health care and preventive services to 5,000 residents of Jefferson, Somerville, Washington, Whitefield, Windsor, and surrounding communities. 

Sheepscot Valley Health Center is a practice of HealthReach Community Health Centers, a system of eleven federally qualified health centers, and two dental centers, in Central and Western Maine. Dedicated providers deliver first-class health care to citizens in over 80 rural communities. To ensure access for everyone, HealthReach accepts Medicare, MaineCare and major insurances. In addition, we offer an Affordable Care Program to uninsured and underinsured residents and assist with applications for other programs that help with the cost of health care and medications. A private, non-profit organization with a 35-year history, HealthReach is funded by patient fees, grants and individual donations.