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Video Testimonial to Health Care in Lewiston-Auburn, press play to watch. |
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Lewiston-Auburn's health care industry is truly one of the area's growth industries. Anchored by two of the state's finest hospitals – Central Maine Medical Center and St. Mary's Regional Medical Center – the health care industry is the Lewiston-Auburn MSA's largest, employing more than 8,000 people.
Medical Centers
CMMC opened the Central Maine Heart and Vascular Institute (CMHVI) in May 2003. This full service cardiac center offers prevention and education programs, risk factor screening, cardiac diagnostics, cardiac angioplasty, cardiac surgery, rehabilitation programs and research. CMHVI is designed to be patient focused and family friendly. Patients receive care in the unique Single Stay Unit and family members from outside of the local area are provided free lodging at the nearby Arbor House.
CMMC is the first hospital in Maine to offer intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), a precise form of 3-D radiotherapy that targets higher radiation doses to tumors while protecting healthy tissue. Some 800 new cancer patients are diagnosed or treated at the hospital each year. CMMC’s comprehensive cancer program is affiliated with Boston’s Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
LifeFlight of Maine, the state’s medical helicopter, is based on the CMMC campus which is one of Maine’s three state-designated trauma centers.
Meanwhile, St. Mary's inaugurated a new $6 million women's health pavilion in September of 2000 entirely dedicated to women's health, including a women's imaging center, a family birthing unit, mammography services, and bone densitometry. Modern amenities include birthing tubs, hypnobirthing classes for women, on-site massage therapy, and regular forums on important women's issues.
St.
Mary's has received widespread acclaim for other specialty areas including behavioral
medicine, neuroscience, and spinal injury treatment. St. Mary's houses
a Stealth Neuronavigational System, one of New England's only computerized
systems for spine and brain surgical procedures. In fact, St. Mary's was
the first hospital in New England and one of the first in the country
to have computer-guided robotic operating microscopes that allow for treatment
of movement disorder symptoms associated with diseases such as Parkinson's.
Geriatric and Home Health Care
L-A is also a center of excellence in geriatric care. Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice, one of New England's largest home care providers, caters to many of the state's elderly and shut-ins. Specialized nurses offer physical, occupational, and speech therapy; social work counseling; infusion therapy; diabetic education; and cardiac rehab. St. Mary's also oversees d'Youville Pavilion, the state's largest nursing home facility with specialty units for rehabilitation, transitional care, long-term care, and Alzheimer's patients.
Academic and Industry Resources
Many of the area's four colleges bolster the strength of the health care
industry in the Twin Cities. Biology is the fastest growing major at Bates
College, for instance, and nursing is offered at CMMC's School of Nursing, Central Maine Community
College, and L-A College. Andover College offers an Associate's Degree in Medical Assisting, and a certificate program in Medical Transcription. These strong academic programs help create a
pool of qualified, competent specialists. Also at L-A College, part of
the Maine University System, virtual anatomy classes are conducted
which allow students to operate on "virtual" cadavers,
avoiding bioethical dilemmas and foregoing the need to operate on live
corpses. Competent health care professionals are also instructed at CMMC's Clark F. Miller School of Radiologic
Technology, and its School of Nuclear Medicine Technology.
The Maine Science and Technology Foundation in nearby Augusta is an important resource for researchers, entrepreneurs and decison-makers in biotech, medical research, and pharmaceutical companies. The foundation also works closely with the University of Maine System Network for Education and Technology Services (UNET), the Maine Composites Alliance, and the Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership.
The Maine Technology Investment Fund makes direct, pre-commercialization investments of $25,000 to $100,000 in small, innovative Maine companies to assist in bringing new technology-based products to the market.
Experimental
Program to Stimulate Competitive Technology (EPSCoT)
As a cooperating partner with Eastern Maine Development Corporation,
the University of Maine Department of Industrial Cooperation, the Maine
Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the Maine International Trade
Center, the Maine Science and Technology Foundation is developing a state-of-the-art
interactive web-based science and technology clearinghouse. The project,
funded by an Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Technology
(EPSCoT) grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce, will create a virtual
network of commercialization support services throughout the state.
The Maine Technology Institute (MTI) is a legislatively-funded partnership with the state to develop competitive technology clusters within the areas of biotechnology, information technology, environmental sciences, composite materials, precision manufacturing, marine sciences and advanced technologies in agriculture and forestry.
The Biotechnology Association of Maine is a trade organization which promotes the industry's steady growth, interprets its benefits to the public, and influences pertinent public policy. The association promotes a positive business climate for the biotechnology community in Maine and is committed to developing and promoting the biotech industry.
Medical
Products and Services Industry
The health care industry has also encouraged the growth of related
service and medical products companies. For example, Riley
Medical Inc. specializes in surgical instrument cases, trays,
and containers. Spirometrics Medical Equipment makes and
sells exhalation testing units nationally. Other companies offer numerous support services including medical billing and job placement.
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