Sunday, March 11, 2007
Blethen Maine News Service photo by Jeff Pouland
Erik Anderson, 17, leads the singing the of National Anthem before the start of the annual Rome town meeting on Saturday.
Residents wondered Saturday why their tax dollars should support a community health center in neighboring Belgrade Lakes, but they eventually approved the funding.
The $2,000 request from the Belgrade Regional Health Center was one of only a few items from Saturday's three-hour town meeting that caused Rome residents to debate.
The practice, a member of the HealthReach Community Health Center system, provides services on a sliding-fee scale, but several residents complained that the office was not accepting new patients, that some locals had been turned away in emergencies and that summer visitors had been denied care.
Beth Hartstock-Foss, Rome Rescue chief and a health center board member, said it's a common misconception that the center is a rural clinic. In order to receive services, people must be patients of the practice, she explained.
Voters also decided, 157-149, to join School Administrative District 47 and picked Larry Brown to represent Rome on that board.Ý
The decision is subject to approval by the current SAD 47 members -- Oakland, Sidney and Belgrade.
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