As of Friday, Maine Family Planning will no longer provide primary care, which it offers at its clinics in Presque Isle, Houlton, and Ellsworth.

The nonprofit announced at the beginning of October it could no longer afford to continue due to the loss of $2 million in annual Medicaid reimbursements. Congress blocked health care providers who also offer abortions from participating in the low income insurance program in July.

Maine Family Planning nurse practitioner Heather Curran says primary care was introduced to the clinics over the past decade when it became clear that many patients used family planning as their only health service.

"They would just come in for their gynecological exam, or, you know, a few problems here and there," Curran says. "They really weren't seeing a primary c

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