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FARMINGTON – Rebecca Ryder, president/CEO of Franklin Community Health Network, is pleased to announce that Joshua Sparling, MD, FAAD, will join the medical staff of Franklin Memorial Hospital and a new Franklin Health Dermatology practice in September.
Dr. Sparling is board-certified and a Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology. He received his medical degree at Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire, and later completed his residency in dermatology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. Most recently Dr. Sparling served as the sole dermatologist at the Guthrie Ambulatory Health Clinic in Fort Drum, New York, where he provided surgical and medical dermatology services for all active duty and dependent patients in the 10th Mountain Division.
Franklin Health Dermatology is the first ever dermatology-only medical practice based in Franklin County and offers treatment for a full range of dermatological conditions affecting those of all ages, including: acne, psoriasis, rosacea, eczema, dandruff, dermatitis, excess sweating, hair loss, excess hair (hirsuitism), and disorders of the mouth, tongue, lips, and nails.
Dr. Sparling will begin seeing patients on September 8. A referral from one’s primary care doctor may be needed for most services.
Dr. Sparling will offer state-of-the-art dermatological services including: biopsies of moles or growths, treatment of pre-cancerous lesions, removal of skin cancer and benign growths, skin patch testing, narrow band ultraviolet light therapy, cryosurgery and electrocautery, and steroid injections. Also offered will be complete skin exams, skin care advice, and treatment of skin infections.
Cosmetic procedures such as Botox, sclerotherapy for leg veins, and chemical peels for facial blemishes and aging will be available on a limited basis. These procedures are generally considered cosmetic by insurance plans and will require up-front cash payment before such services can be rendered.
“With the addition of Dr. Sparling and the recent arrival of several other doctors, we have assembled some of the best physicians in New England right here in our service area,” said Ryder. “We are so delighted to add a dermatology practice; it is a service that the community has been requesting for quite some time.”
For more information or appointments call 779-2410. Franklin Health Dermatology is located at 105 Mt. Blue Circle, Suite 2, in Farmington, which is one-fourth mile west of Franklin Memorial Hospital on Route 2.
Please, what can we do to get some independent doctors in this area?
Licia,
Why do you think we need “independent’ Dr’s?
Welcome to Dr. Sparling! It’s great that he chose to come to Farmington. He should be very busy.
Bruce asks me “Why do you think we need `independent’ Drs.”
For the same reasons that monopoly in other lines of business is discouraged and in some cases illegal: it prevents the competition that helps keep prices down and standards up. I have less than 15 months experience of FCHN, but already I have experienced several shocking incidents that have destroyed my trust in that organization. If you’ll write to me privately at licia@qhpress.org I can fill you in on details.
Unfortunately, if I want to get my medical care from someone independent I have to travel to Augusta, Waterville, or farther, because every doctor in Farmington and several nearby towns is on the network’s payroll.
The problem isn’t that there are too few doctors (the first explanation I was given). FCHN has 88 practitioners on its list. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if 44 of them were independent or in 2- or 3-person practices so that one would have a real choice?
Licia, what do you mean there are no independent docs in the area? Wilson Stream Family Medicine is independent of FCHN, Jean Antonucci, MD is an independent primary care physcian, Kim Gooch, MD Internal Medicine is independent of FCHN, Joseph Caldwell, MD Orthopedic surgeon is independent of FCHN and those are just he ones in Farmington. HealthReach has four practices n the area (Strong, Kingfield, Livermore Falls and Rangeley) that are not connected with FCHN. Also Dr. Michelle Knapp in Livermore Falls is self-employed and not on the payroll of FCHN. Those are just the ones off the top of my head……
Nancy, the doctors at Wilson Stream Family Practice are on the list of FCHN providers. Just check their website. Jean Antonucci is also on the FCHN list. So is Kim Gooch. So is Joseph Caldwell. So is Michele Knapp. So before you give people false hope please check with some more up-to-date source than the top of your head. HealthReach is apparently a separate network, but they are not in Farmington. And frankly I am bummed out on networks. Tell me about one independent physician, and please check your info first, thanks.
Licia, those docs are not employed by FCHN and are thus considered independent. If you want someone who has absolutely no ties to the hospital, then yes, you will have to go out-of-town.
Okay, then please clarify. They are all on the list alongside all the other FCHN doctors, with no distinction made between those who are “employed by FCHN” and those who are “considered independent.” What kind of “ties to the hospital” do they have? What kind of “independence”? And where can I find a public source of information that will confirm these distinctions, since the FCHN website doesn’t make them.
Kim Gooch works in a building which I believe is owned by FCHN.
I am looking for a doctor who can speak freely about problems I have encountered in FCHN, without feeling required to adhere to a party line or profess ignorance, and who will refer me to the specialist(s) I need, in or out of town, without feeling obliged to refer me to someone in the network, and who will be frank about money matters, and whose bill I can pay without making out my check to Franklin Memorial Hospital. In short, a doctor whose loyalty is to his/her patients and their health, not to the network.
Incidentally, since this has become a one-on-one exchange, perhaps you would like to continue the conversation by sending me an e-mail to licia@qhpress.org? I would send you one, but I don’t have your address.