Bucksport Regional Health Center

When I told my doctor Sara Willey that I wasn't having my period she decided to order a blood test. Then as the blood test she decided to diagnose me with prediabetes. She was notorious for jotting down diagnosis without evidence to back them up, even writing that I had excoriation disorder( a skin picking disorder) that she's not even qualified to diagnose because she's not a psychiatrist all because I had a rash on my arm. Then I got Heidi shawly after she retired. Clearly the doctor s at this hospital just don't care. They don't listen. I told her I'm asymptomatic. I don't have any symptoms of prediabetes and I don't even get my period because I starved. Clearly doctors here just don't care to listen to their patients and look at them as a whole, to look at the whole situation to diagnose, treat a prevent illness. They just do these blood tests and act like they can write up diagnosis based on a simple blood sample. They don't care to listen and actually examine their patients. They just pass it off like oh well I'm doing my job because I can act like I'm helping this patient because I wrote a diagnosis and I'm doing routine blood work to seem like they're doing something with their patients but they don't care to actually take the time to look at their needs and their physical health and their family history to actually care about their patients and figure out how best to help them. In the whole 2 years I've had her she's never even offered a flu shot. Blood tests for young, healthy patients are not recommended by evidence-based guidelines, except for a lipid profile once every five years for men over 35 and women over 40 [13]. Large prospective studies have failed to demonstrate the efficacy of routine blood tests for the general population for early detection of diseases [49], and such tests have even occasionally been found to be harmful [10, 11]. The total accumulated cost of these blood tests is high and false positive results are frequent. Such results may cause anxiety and lead to unnecessary referrals for additional testing and investigation [12, 13]. A study conducted with over 180,000 patients showed that performing general blood tests increased diagnoses and treatments without significant effects on mortality [14]. While blood tests may reveal conditions such as anemia, renal or liver dysfunction, and diabetes mellitus, blood tests are in fact mostly effective when performed on the basis of suspicious findings arising from a thorough history and physical examination. Despite the fact that many abnormal results may be false positives [15], they still often require further investigation, leading to additional medical expenses and patient anxiety, as well as potential physical harm due to exposure to radiation, contrast material and invasive procedures. Unnecessary tests may also lead to overdiagnosis and prompt unnecessary treatment [16], the cost of which is estimated at more than 200 billion dollars every year in the United States [17]. Furthermore, discussing test results with patients is time consuming. Time spent discussing the results of blood tests that were unnecessary to begin with might be better utilized discussing evidence-based recommended tests and lifestyle modifications as a means of disease prevention.
Feb 18th, 2024

We have been really blessed to be able to have this place soo close to home. Our children come to regular checkups here and theyve even squeezed us in on short notice on two occasions for same day issues to avoid trips to the ER. Referrals for things like speech therapy and hearing tests were submitted quickly and were easy to track on the portal. Their dentists are also amazing with our children, the youngest being age 3. They almost always try to get the older kids in at the same time so its not as long of a process. Since moving here a few years ago, my kids have grown to like the dentist and actually look forward to their appointments. We are grateful for all of the kind and patient staff!
Feb 11th, 2024

Great medical care, I love my provider Heidi Shawley, FNP and her MA Libby. They are the best!
Jan 22nd, 2024

Definitely go somewhere else
Jan 15th, 2024

My whole household goes here. It's fine for adults but if you have a child that is showing signs of being Neuro-divergent and you bring up your concerns you will be medically gas lit! You will not get assistance here. My daughter came into the practice from infancy she developed fine until we were having some sensory problems causing delays in toilet training that were getting progressively worse. Kept getting told to "wait and see wait and see..." Mentioned her having a speech delay "Wait and see...." Along with them telling me her being an only child being to blame here (I can't have more children so that stung a bit). She's a toe walker.... an obvious sign of neuro-divergence never would address it or even attempt to look into it. She's five now a huge window for intervention was missed here. It took the school to evaluate her and start intervention methods that should have already been taken place by that point. I'm so disappointed and angry because there were obviously markers and I was made to feel like I was over reacting when I actually wasn't. Don't send your kids here especially if they are potentially Neuro-divergent. Also for added context she has a family history of neuro-divergence and that was never taken into account either when it should have. Had she been diagnosed when I raised my concerns she would probably be having much less problems in school right now and would have had services already in place to accommodate her. I will be looking to filing a formal complaint about this through the proper channels but I will be looking for another practice to take my child. Also to add the reception has told us the wrong date and times for us to be in for appointments, has rescheduled and randomly cancelled appointments with no notice or without asking only for us to be told when we arrive. They also hire a company to answer their phones and I've had them be incredibly rude to me at times. They also don't call back or answer any questions if you have them.
Nov 25th, 2023