On Wednesday, March 18, from 4:00 - 6:00 pm, the St. John Valley Health Center in Van Buren will host a reception for Dr. Hans L. Duvefelt, a Board Certified Family Practice Physician who has joined the medical team at the health center. Refreshments will be provided. The public is invited to meet the new physician who will be replacing Dr. Claude Boma who has been with the Health Center for several years and will be moving to Cary Medical Center to serve as a Hospitalist.

Dr. Hans Duvefelt was born in Sweden and completed his medical training at Uppsala University School of Medicine. He completed Family Practice Residency at the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine. Over the past 15 years he has been Medical Director and practicing physician at the Bucksport Regional Health Center in Maine, a rural Federally Qualified Health Center. He previously served as a lecturer and preceptor for the University of Maine Masters Program for Family Nurse Practitioners. From 1989 - 1994 her served as Medical Director and Staff Physician at the Cutler Health Center, University of Maine, Orono.

Dr. Duvefelt comes to Aroostook County after visiting the area for several years during Mid-Summer, a Swedish Festival held in New Sweden. He enjoyed the area and over the years has visited the region with his wife and enjoyed the environment.

"My wife and I both very much enjoy Northern Maine and we have appreciated the culture of the region. I started coming to the County some seventeen years ago to visit. It is wonderful to now be practicing medicine in the area."

Dr. Duvefelt will replace Dr. Claude Boma a Board Certified Internist who will be relocating to Cary Medical Center where he will become a Hospitalist. This position will have Dr. Boma working in the hospital full-time where he will be managing patients who have been admitted to the hospital. He will join Dr. Irene Djuanda who also provides Hospitalist services.

Jim Davis, CEO, at Pines Health Services said that he was pleased to have Dr. Duvefelt join the medical team at the St. John Valley Health Center.

"When we learned of Dr. Boma's interest in working as a Hospitalist at Cary Medical Center we wanted to be sure we had the right person to fill his position. Dr. Boma has served the Greater Van Buren Community very well. He will be a great asset at Cary Medical Center and our patients from the Van Buren area who are admitted to Cary will continue to benefit from his skills as a fine physician. We were most fortunate to recruit Dr. Duvefelt. He has exceptional experience and will be a tremendous addition to the Health Center in Van Buren. His appreciation for the culture of our area and his obvious compassionate and dedicated approach to medical practice will help this transition be very comfortable for our patients and staff. We hope that residents of the Van Buren area will join us on Wednesday from 4 - 6:00 pm and welcome him to the St. John Valley Health Center".

The St. John Valley Health Center is a Division of Pines Health Services a Federally Qualified Health Center. The health center is located at 4 Main Street at the site of the former Van Buren Community Hospital. The center offers primary care services, with Dr. Duvefelt, Dr. Samuela Manages, and Physician Assistant, Suzanne Luebke. Obstetrics and Gynecology is offered on a part time basis by Regen Gallagher, DO, and Kim Martin, Certified Nurse Midwife. Dr. Rajendra Chowdry a General Practitioner also works at the center on a part time basis. Other services at the center include: dietary and diabetic education, blood drawing services, physical and occupational therapy, wound/ostomy services, prosthetics and orthotic services, mastectomy fittings and a cardiac rehabilitation phase three program.

For more information on the St. John Valley Health Center or to schedule appointments please call 868-2796.