Courtesy / Maine Realty Advisors
A former retail store will become the new Machias home of Eastport Health Care Inc.
Updated: September 5, 2022
A Downeast health center expands in Machias
Courtesy / Eastport Health Care Inc.
Investment in the buildout is expected to be approximately $2.5 million, including state-of-the-art patient care equipment and supplies, external renovation and internal systems.
Eastport Health Care Inc. is expanding in Machias with the acquisition of a 10,000-square-foot retail building at 160 Dublin St.
Eastport Health Care bought the property, formerly occupied by Dollar Tree, from Daniel G. Kamin LLC for $1 million. Ryan Carey of Maine Realty Advisors represented the seller and Mike MacPhee of Due East Real Estate in Eastport represented buyer in the transaction.
“We looked at a number of options,” the center’s CEO, Ellen Krajewski, told Mainebiz. “This ended up filling our needs.”
Carey said the seller was original looking to lease the property. But due to the expected investment in build-out, both buyer and seller agreed a sale made more sense, he said.
“It would have been an extensive buildout,” he said.
Dublin Street is the local name for U.S. Route 1 leading north to downtown Machias. Located across the street from a Hannaford supermarket, the property has high visibility.
Combining Machias locations
Eastport Health Care is a federally qualified health center under the Health Resources & Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
As a federally qualified health center, it provides medical, dental and behavioral health care to residents of Washington County and beyond; provides chronic illness management, health education and prevention programs and support in connecting patients to community resources; and offers eligible patients a sliding fee discount program.
The center has locations in Eastport, Machias and Calais.
In February, the center established its second Machias location when it opened a pediatric clinic on the University of Maine’s Machias campus.
The pediatrics clinic has four patient rooms, including a procedure room. It occupies more than 3,500 square feet on the first floor of Sennett Hall, a residence hall that has been unoccupied on the campus since fall 2019.
The center signed a lease with the University of Maine System to locate the new clinic in the building until all of the center’s Machias-based services were ready to relocate to 160 Dublin St.
The center also has primary care and behavioral health services at 53 Fremont St. in Machias, which will join the pediatrics clinic at 160 Dublin St.
Patient influx
The center has grown out of its 53 Fremont St. space, said Krajewski.
The new location will be an expansion that will accommodate an influx of new pediatric and adult patients, she added.
“We know there are people in Washington County who need a primary care home,” she said. “Also, we’re ready for an upgrade in our work environment and facilities. We want to retain our staff and our patients and provide the best patient care, which means space that is designed specifically to meet the needs of our patients.”
Machias Savings Bank and the Genesis Fund, a community development financial institution in Brunswick, provided funding for the new location.
The new location is about double the combined square-footage of the other two Machias locations.
The project is now in the design phase with Fraser Associates Architects in Bar Harbor. The goal is to be in the facility within 12 months. Investment in the buildout is expected to be approximately $2.5 million, including state-of-the-art patient care equipment and supplies, external renovation and internal systems.
It’s anticipated the Machias location will recruit additional clinical providers.
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