Quarry Hill Residents, Staff Welcome Dr. Kahn

Quarry Hill Retirement Community in Camden celebrated the arrival of new on-site physician Dr. Richard Kahn on Oct. 9 with receptions attended by both residents and staff.

Addressing residents of Quarry Hill's apartments and cottage homes, Kahn summarized his philosophy of patient care. "Everyone has an interesting story to tell," he said. "My patients teach me many things, and I teach them as well."

Kahn officially began his new job as senior services physician specialist (SSPS) for Quarry Hill and the Knox Center for Long Term Care on Oct. 5. Currently, the practice is devoted exclusively to providing primary care for nursing-care residents at both Pen Bay Healthcare sites and for assisted living residents at Quarry Hill. Administrators expect his role to expand over time to include Quarry Hill's independent living residents, as well.

Pen Bay Healthcare Senior Services Director Bob McKeown said the SSPS model arose as a way to resolve issues that make it difficult for many primary-care providers throughout Maine and nationwide to visit their patients in nursing care.

"Having an onsite physician bypasses these obstacles, affording residents more frequent visits with a doctor, ensuring swifter response to emergent medical concerns, and reducing the need to send people to the hospital to get the attention they need," McKeown said.

McKeown indicated that residents have the option of continuing to see their current primary care physicians or transferring to Kahn for those services while residing at Quarry Hill or the Knox Center. Similarly, he said, area physicians may choose whether or not to continue visiting patients in nursing care.

"We see this as a win-win situation that benefits not only our residents but Pen Bay Healthcare as a whole," McKeown said.

Kahn began practicing in the Camden–Rockport area in 1972. He completed undergraduate studies at Rutgers University and received his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine.