Cary Medical Center and Pines Health Services will be holding FREE Seasonal/H1N1 Flu Shot Clinics in the following areas for the general public.

Cary Medical Center 31th Annual Health Fair
Caribou Wellness Center
Saturday, October 15th, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Caswell Elementary School
Tuesday, October 18th, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

New Sweden Elementary School
Wednesday, October 19th, from 6 – 8 p.m.

Fort Fairfield Middle/High School
Thursday, October 20th, from 3 – 6 p.m.

St. John Valley Health Center, Van Buren
Wednesday, Oct. 26th, from 4 – 6 p.m.

Washburn Community Center
Tuesday, Nov. 1st, from 4 – 6 p.m.

Cary Medical Center Chan Center
Tuesday, Nov. 8th, from 5 – 7 p.m.

Please bring your Medicare Card if you participate in the Medicare Program. Children under 9 years of age are encouraged to receive their flu shots at school or from their provider.

For more information, please contact:
Cary Public Relations at 498-1158, 498-1361,
498-1376, or 498-1112.

Pink Aroostook is a Breast Health Program in Northern Maine. The program is designed for support, advocacy, education and awareness of breast health issues.

Cary Medical Center and Komen Maine

Thanks to Cary Medical Center and Komen Maine we are able to provide a limited number of no cost mammograms and transportation to breast cancer treatment for individuals in financial need. Funding received from Komen Maine is also being used to identify barriers that exist for women in accessing the healthcare system, particularly breast health services. Our focus is on women in the Native American Community, Women associated with the Migrant Farm Worker Program and women in agriculture.

Maine Breast & Cervical Health Program

Our project is also attempting to make more women aware of a program under the Department Of Health and Human Services Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Funding from this program makes it possible to offer free mammograms and pap smears for women who qualify to advance early detection of cancer for women in Maine. Early detection is currently the best way to save the lives of women from breast and cervical cancer. To see if you qualify for no-cost screenings, please visit : http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/bohdcfh/bcp/index.htm 

The County Sisters

The County Sisters is a network of women that was formed as a way to connect and help women in Aroostook County that have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. The network connects women new to breast cancer to a group of women who have survived and had similar diagnosis or treatment. If you are interested in being a part of this network, please contact Anna Blackstone @ This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 207-551-1551

The Women's Health Task Force

The Women's Task Force is a group of women in Aroostook County and throughout Maine who help organize and coordinate new innovative ideas for Women's Health in Northern Maine. The task force is comprised of a very diverse group of women including doctors, nurses, women in agriculture, native American women, educators, and others. The goal of the group is to have representation from all sectors of the community with a goal of identifying key health issues with a focus on prevention.

These are the women who helped develop Pink Aroostook.

Breast Cancer Support Groups

Pink Aroostook will be hosting a Breast Cancer Support Group in the Chan Center of Cary Medical Center, the first Thursday of every month beginning in September. Breast Cancer patients, Breast Cancer Survivors, and others interested in Breast Health issues are invited to attend.

KOMEN BREAST HEALTH RETREAT

Pink Aroostook will also begin hosting an Annual Breast Health Retreat.

We are in the process of developing out first monthly Newsletter for Pink Aroostook! If you have any information that you would like to share in our newsletter, or if you would like to share your breast cancer story please email all information to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For more information please call or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 207-551- 1551 

Cary Medical Center and Pines Health Services are very happy to be a sponsor of the Infant and Toddler event – The Early Years Resource Fair:  Pregnancy through age 3.

We hope that parents who have children 3 and under or who are expecting will attend one of the three sessions.  Friday, April 15 in Fort Kent at the Elementary School at 6:00 pm, Saturday, April 16 at the Caribou Wellness and Recreation Center at 9:30 am, and Saturday, April 16 at the Houlton Recreation Center at 1:00 pm.  The sessions are all free and will feature the musical entertainment of children’s favorite, Rick Charette.  Please click here to see a poster describing the events.  Hope to see you there.

The Early Years Resource Fair:  Pregnancy through Age 3 is sponsored by the Aroostook Council for Healthy Families, ACAP Child and Family Services, Cary Medical Center, Pines Health Services, and the Houlton Recreation Department.  For more information visit www.acap-me.org.  The event is being conducted in Celebration of the Week of the Young Child which has a theme of the Early Years Are Learning Years.

Click here to see our event poster.

Cary Medical Center is pleased to partner with the Caribou Police Department in providing a safe place for community members to dispose of dangerous medical sharps.  Starting February 24th, community members who use medical sharps will be able (Left to right), Kevin Goodine, Cary Safety Officer; Lisa Prescott, MT(ASCP), Cary Laboratory Technologist; Mark Draper, President of the Caribou Rotary Club; Chief Mike Gahagan, Caribou Police Department; Nick Archer, Regional Manager, Maine Department of Environmental Protection; Ann King, RN, Cary Infection Control Practitioner; Anna Michaud, MLT, Cary Laboratory Technologist; and Bill Flagg, Director, Cary Community Relations and Development. to safely dispose of containers of their used needles in a special kiosk located in the Caribou Police Department Lobby.  The generous donation of the Caribou Rotary along with funds provided by the Presque Isle Kiwanis, Caribou Legion Auxiliary, and others have enabled the establishment of this program whereby needles and other sharps will be safely disposed of in a way that protects the public.

The kiosk pictured will accept containers of needles, lancets, and other sharps and be emptied on a monthly or as needed basis by Oxus Environmental, the same biomedical waste facility used by area hospitals and clinics.  Hazardous sharps that could carry life threatening disease organisms will be incinerated.  Currently biomedical waste that is generated in homes and throughout the community is thrown into regular garbage.  This practice endangers the whole community but particularly waste handlers, children, and pets.

Acceptable containers for the kiosk include:

• Special 1.4 qt. sharps containers available from the police department, Cary Diabetes Education offices, the Cary Medical Center Laboratory, and Pines offices.
• Hard rigid plastic laundry or fabric softener bottles up to 1 gallon in size are acceptable.  Please mark these "do not recycle" when used in the home to collect sharps.

Unacceptable containers:

• coffee cans
• glass bottles
• beverage containers

Selection of the Caribou Police Department lobby was carefully chosen as the site for this kiosk because of its prime location in the community, its 24-hour availability, and the dedicated commitment of the Police Department to the safety of its citizens.  Not only can outdated prescriptions be disposed of at the station, but also used medical sharps.  It is anticipated that as further funding comes into the Cary Community Sharps Program, other sites in the County will be able to provide needle drop off containers.

Dr. Josette Hunter has rejoined the Pines Health Services and Cary Medical Center family of providers. Board Certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Hunter earned her MD from SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn Medical School, Brooklyn, New York, and completed her internship and residency at Maine Medical Center in Portland. She is a member of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 

Well respected throughout the community, Dr. Hunter has practiced medicine in northern Maine for nearly nine years. She has also provided mission services in Sierra Leone, where she helped to establish the Aberdeen Clinic and Fistula Center and served as a primary surgeon for hundreds of her patients.

Dr. Hunter has been greeted enthusiastically upon her return to Pines Health Services and Cary Medical Center. “We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Hunter home to Pines and to our team of Ob/Gyn providers. Patients and peers alike regard her highly for her skilled, compassionate approach to delivering health care,” noted Pines CEO Jim Davis. “Dr. Hunter is a key addition to our Women’s and Children’s Health Center in Caribou, and to the Pines Family Health Center in Presque Isle.”

Pines Health Services is a Federally Qualified Health Center with offices in Caribou, Presque Isle, Limestone, and Van Buren. Pines delivers patient-centered, quality health care to residents throughout Aroostook County, ensuring access for those who are unserved, underserved, or unable to pay for routine medical services.

On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, Dr. Hunter sees continuing and new patients at the Pines Women’s and Children’s Health Center in Caribou. On Thursdays she sees new and continuing patients at the Pines Family Health Center in Presque Isle. Please call 498-6921 to make an appointment with Dr. Hunter at either location.