Staff Directory | Meet The Team! - Health Affiliates Maine

At Health Affiliates Maine, we are lucky to work with a fantastic team of individuals, whom each contribute toward making HAM not only a fantastic place to work but also a place where each of us can thrive.

Andrea Krebs, LCSW Executive Director

Ext. 204
andrea.krebs@healthaffiliatesmaine.com

Having graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore with a Master’s in Social Work in 2000, Andrea’s experience includes therapeutic work with children, adolescents, families and couples in outpatient clinics, the public school system, and private practice. She has been in senior management of community mental health organizations since 2006, and worked together with the owners to establish Health Affiliates Maine in 2010, where she serves as Executive Director.

Andrea believes that mental health and substance abuse issues impact all people’s lives either personally or by the people they know and love. Health Affiliates Maine, through their outpatient counseling, case management, and psychiatric assessment and treatment services, guide people toward recovery at their own pace, with ongoing compassion, respect, and support. Through this mission, Andrea and the Health Affiliates Maine team work to reduce the stigma associated with accessing treatment so as to encourage all people to fully participate in their own individual “Journey to Wellness.”

Melissa Bowker-Kinley, MD, PhD Medical Director

melissa.bowker-kinley@healthaffiliatesmaine.com

Dr. Bowker-Kinley is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Medicine and did her psychiatry residency at the New York State Psychiatric Institute while also completing a public psychiatry fellowship at Columbia University. She completed a fellowship at Maine Medical Center in child and adolescent psychiatry in 2009. Dr. Bowker-Kinley’s professional experience has included inpatient child and adolescent psychiatry, assessment and diagnosis of children, adolescents, and adults, pharmacological treatment of youth and adults, and psychotherapy with children, adolescents, and young adults.

In addition to her clinical experience, Dr. Bowker-Kinley has been a faculty member in the Maine Medical Center Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, providing clinical supervision to general psychiatry residents and child psychiatry fellows, as well as lectures on topics including adolescent development, treatment of eating disorders, treatment of psychosis, and management of non-suicidal self-injury. Dr. Bowker-Kinley began her current role at Health Affiliates Maine in the fall of 2014 as Medical Director, where her focus is to expand and oversee the Psychiatric Assessment and Treatment services, and provides psychiatric care to patients in the L/A and Portland areas.

Luanne Starr Rhoades, LCPC, LADC, CCS Outpatient Therapy Program Director

Ext. 250
luanne.rhoades@healthaffiliatesmaine.com

Luanne came to Health Affiliates Maine in 2013 with over 10 years in private practice based in Lewiston; 4 years at St. Mary’s Partial Hospital Program, and 4 years providing counseling to service members and families of the Maine National Guard. She specialized in treating adults for mental health and substance abuse problems. Prior to becoming a counselor, Luanne worked in the areas of community leadership, older adult services, and job placement for individual with disabilities.

Luanne believes that counseling is a profound, courageous process that can change a person, family or couple in significant ways. Seeking treatment is a healthy way of coping with the stressors of this life. “As far as we know this is the only life we get, and it is too short to live mentally and emotionally unwell, and unhappy.”

Kate Marble, LCSW Case Management Program Director

Ext. 221
kate.marble@healthaffiliatesmaine.com

Kate is a graduate of the University of New England with a Master’s in Social Work, and from the University of Presque Isle with a Bachelor’s in Health Education. Kate began her career at Healthy Community Coalition where she was recognized for her work on programs such as Tobacco-Free Franklin Families, an initiative to increase providers’ capability to assist pregnant and parenting women quit tobacco, and the Domestic Violence Response Project, an initiative to improve the community response to domestic violence. Inspired by this work, Kate pursued social work and started working in community mental health in 2007 as an outpatient therapist and program coordinator for a licensed mental health agency.

Kate has held her current position at Health Affiliates Maine as Case Management Program Director since 2010, where she oversees the referral department, utilization review and case management program. In this role, she places a strong emphasis on self-care for her staff so they can provide high quality services for years to come.

Thomas Vurgason, MBA Director of Program Development

Ext. 251
Tom.Vurgason@healthaffiliatesmaine.com

Tom received his MBA from Temple University in Pennsylvania. Prior to joining HAM in early 2013, Tom worked 23 years for St. Mary’s Health System as Vice President of Behavioral Services. During his tenure at St. Mary’s he was instrumental in expanding the scope and the size of the behavioral services where St. Mary’s became known as a center of excellence for its Behavioral programs. Tom provided vision and strategic change that reached across the state and the Nation. He helped develop the first behavioral health carve out non-profit insurance provider here in the State of Maine. That insurer now provides services to 165,000 New Englanders. He developed the first Tele-psychiatric service in the state that did not depend on grants for its sustainability. He pioneered the concept of behavioral and primary care integration.

Tom’s current role at Health Affiliates Maine as Director of Program Development includes helping the organization to grow and be prepared for the changing health care environment. He continues to help develop our psychiatric assessment and treatment program. He also develops relationships with commercial payers and is looking for collaborative relationships with other agencies that can leverage and enhance the services provided to our Affiliates and their clients.

Nina Bartlett
Director of Operations

Ext. 253
Nina.Bartlett@healthaffiliatesmaine.com

As the newest member of the management team, Nina joined Health Affiliates Maine in 2015, with over 10 years of experience as an Operations Manager. Nina has had extensive involvement in managing various office environments, both with local and national companies. As a graduate of Lewiston High School and student at UMA, Nina strives to continue her professional development through life experience and educational units; both of which have gained her organizational development, leadership and strategic planning skills as some of her specialties.

Nina’s role as Director of Operations includes oversight of the Billing, Quality Assurance and Medical Records departments, where she works closely with fellow Directors and Managers to help improve processes for increased efficiencies. Nina also provides Facility Management of all of Health Affiliates Maine’s satellite offices, located throughout the state.