Lufkin joins Family Health

BETHEL — Leslie Lufkin, LCSW, LADC will be joining the medical team at Bethel Family Health Center this winter to provide behavioral health services to patients of the practice. One of the program goals is to focus on the total person and assist patients at difficult crossroads across the lifecycle.

The Bethel medical providers will recommend patients to Lufkin and she will meet with them right in the health center. This will include patients who would benefit from working with a trained professional in handling a new diagnosis, managing a chronic condition, setting limits with children, and many other factors that influence people’s overall wellness.

Lufkin brings extensive direct service and clinical supervisory experience in a variety of community mental health, home health and residential and outpatient substance abuse settings. She has established relationships with Bethel area providers as she has lived locally for 18 years and is familiar with community resources.

Her clinical areas of expertise include rural social work practice with families, children, adolescents and adults. She earned a Master in Social Work degree from Syracuse University after obtaining her Bachelor of Social Work degree at University of Maine.

"I am very pleased to have the opportunity to provide services through the Bethel Family Health Center and serve the Bethel community in a broader way. It will be wonderful to join such a great team of professionals that are committed to the people of our area,” states Lufkin.

Lufkin will be joining Drs. Rich DeCarolis and Kevin Finley as well as physician assistants Jan Whitworth and Merry Moses. The health center provides medical care and preventive services to 4,000 residents of Andover, Bethel, Gilead, Greenwood, Hanover, Newton, Upton, Woodstock and neighboring towns and was established in 1979.

Bethel Family Health Center is one of the practices of HealthReach Community Health Centers, a system of 11 federally qualified health centers in central and western Maine. Dedicated providers deliver first-class health care to citizens in over 80 rural communities. To ensure access for everyone, HealthReach accepts Medicare, MaineCare and major insurances.

In addition, they offer an Affordable Care Program to uninsured and underinsured residents and assist with applications for other programs that help with the cost of health care and medications. A private, nonprofit organization with a 38-year history, HealthReach is funded by patient fees, grants and individual donations.

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Leslie Lufkin, LCSW, LADC