The Islands Community Medical Center (ICMS) on Vinalhaven this month bid farewell to Dr. Rick Donahue after a ten-year tenure.
The center plans to replace Dr. Donahue with two new staff members: a physician and a family nurse practitioner, reflecting an expanding role for ICMS in offering comprehensive on-island family-practice care.
Lt. Commander Daniel Aronson has been posted to the island by the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) as a part of the Ready Responder program. This initiative, which grew out of the post 9/11 Homeland Security Department, places health professionals in areas that are determined to have underserved health care needs. Lt. Commander Aronson is a family nurse practitioner, and will not only be serving the direct health care needs of island residents, but is also intended to serve as part of a coordinated resource in the event of a major regional health or security threat. Vinalhaven was one of only 55 sites chosen out of nearly 4,000 applications. As a part of his larger mission, Lt. Commander Aronson will spend two, two-week training periods each year off the island receiving training in addressing a variety of potential public health risks. He and his wife, Dianna, moved to the island May 3 from Virginia, where he was last posted as the Regional Director of Health Services for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Atlantic region. They will stay in this post for three years, and so far find the island much to their liking. Dianna, who hails from and still has family in Washington State, said, “the day we came over on the 1:00 boat was all fog and rain, and I just love it.”
Dr. Margaret Scannell is also coming from the south, moving from a practice in South Carolina. She is no stranger to island life however, as she grew up in Ireland. She is expected to be on the island and in service at ICMS in mid to late summer. Dr. Scannell will be Vinalhaven’s first female doctor, and has a daughter who is also a physician. Dinah Moyer, Director of ICMS, said “we are excited to have both of these folks coming on-board, appreciate everything Dr. Donahue did for us over the years, and look forward to continued comprehensive health care for island residents.”