I am a Bangor High School graduate, who moved back to town almost 13 years ago to work as a pediatrician and care for the children of my hometown and surrounding communities. If you’ve ever spent any time in our practice, you’ve probably heard a parent say, “I was a patient here and now I bring my children here.” This statement is true for many of the families I work with – I even care for the children of some of my very first pediatric patients – my “grand-patients.” I take care of cousins, friends, and many other groups within our community. It is an honor to be such an important part of their history and to be part of PCHC.
With more than 40 years of pediatric care in the greater Bangor region, Penobscot Pediatrics has been a leader in innovative, pediatric primary care. Since 2005, hundreds of thousands of children and teenagers have received the care and support they need, right here in our small practice at 1068 Union Street in Bangor. The work we do in this space every day provides access to fundamental services from birth to age 20. Through our unique model of integrated medical and mental health care, we help children and families with basic prevention, chronic disease management, and life’s other challenges, such as overcoming adverse childhood experiences, eliminating food insecurity, and providing social supports. We treat the whole child and family system with the goal of improving health and wellbeing, not just curing sickness.
But to continue the great work we do at Penobscot Pediatrics and to meet the growing need, we must grow our physical capacity. Expanding into this beautiful new space – the PCHC Pediatrics Center – will allow us to do that. It will enhance our ability to recruit and retain world-class providers, collaborative as teams, and proactively improve and develop early intervention and prevention services for all our kids, especially our most vulnerable.
Not only am I a pediatrician, I am, most importantly, a mom. My son is almost 5 and will be starting kindergarten in the fall. The data on children’s health in this region is not what I want to see for his generation, for my patients, or for generations to come. I know we can, and we must, do better for our kids.
So – thank you for considering a generous donation to this wonderful project that will impact our region for generations to come!
– Dr. Kristen Martin, DO, FAAP
Penobscot Pediatrics Medical Director