Psychiatric practice opened in The Mill
DOVER-FOXCROFT — Laura Feaga, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and a Piscataquis County native, has opened a new psychiatric practice in Dover-Foxcroft. Healing Partners Psychiatric Services, LLC, located in The Mill, provides psychiatric diagnosis, consultation, medication management and supportive therapy for clients by appointment.
Feaga grew up running sporting camps on Sebec Lake and has a deep love for the rural culture and lifestyle that makes central and northern Maine unique. She has also seen firsthand the difficulties that a remote location can create for healthcare provider recruitment and retention. Her dream has always been to help make mental health care more accessible to people in Piscataquis County, a critically underserved region with high mental health needs.
Photos courtesy of Brenda Shultz Photography
HEALING PARTNERS PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES — Laura Feaga, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and a Piscataquis County native, has opened a new psychiatric practice in Dover-Foxcroft. Healing Partners Psychiatric Services, LLC, located in The Mill, provides psychiatric diagnosis, consultation, medication management and supportive therapy for clients by appointment.
The Maine State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW) presents sobering statistics about the mental health of Mainers overall. Rates of completed suicides in Maine increased by 17 percent from 2008 to 2014. In 2013 Mainers had higher rates of all mental illnesses than the northeast region and the entire United States. This picture is even more sobering for Piscataquis County, where the percentage of high schoolers identifying with symptoms of major depression increased from 21.8 percent in 2011 to 32.5 percent in 2017 (Maine CHNA.org).
The 2019 Maine Shared Community Health Needs Assessment Report for Piscataquis County identify “depression and suicidality as the most pressing mental health conditions in Piscataquis County.” The identified gaps and needs for mental health in this county include more therapists and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners. The Dexter, Dover-Foxcroft and Greenville regions are identified by the health resources and services administration as experiencing a region wide shortage of mental health providers for the entire population.
Feaga hopes to break down some of the barriers to accessing care for Piscataquis County residents. She is based locally and does tele-psych visits for established patients who can’t get to her Dover-Foxcroft office. The philosophy of care she employs is holistic. She prescribes medications and also helps patients make other changes important to mental health including diet, exercise, and complementary and alternative treatments. She says that owning a small private practice has allowed her to spend the extra time with her patients and give them a level of care and personal attention that they often don’t get elsewhere.
You can find her website at www.healingpartnerspychiatric.com. Healing Partners is also on Facebook or you can call 207-659-5160. She is accepting new patients.
