Maine Primary Care Association Announces Winners of the
2025 Clinical & Administrative Excellence Awards
Rockport, ME – Oct. 22, 2025 – The Maine Primary Care Association (MPCA), a membership organization representing the collective voices of Maine’s Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), is pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 Clinical and Administrative Excellence Awards, which were presented at its Annual Conference on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at the Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine. The Clinical and Administrative Excellence Awards were created in 2005 to honor the contributions and accomplishments of individuals and health center advocates working to ensure that affordable, high-quality health care is available to all Mainers.
This year, MPCA is recognizing six individuals and teams for their leadership, dedication, and support of Maine’s Community Health Centers. The 2025 award winners are as follows:
- Theresa Knowles, NP Excellence Award, Joseph Aquilina, FNP-C – Health Access Network
- Team-Based Excellence Award, Behavioral Health Team – St. Croix Regional Family Health Center
- General Excellence Award, Israel Adeloye, DMD – Penobscot Community Health Care
- Holly Gartmayer-DeYoung President’s Award, Yazhou Zhang, DDS – St. Croix Regional Family Health Center
- MPCA Staff Award, Emily Ferry & Leslie Lorentzen – Maine Primary Care Association
Darcy Shargo, CEO, Maine Primary Care Association, said, “Maine’s Community Health Centers are driven by an exceptional group of professionals whose compassion and dedication to their communities set the highest standard of service. Today, we recognize a distinguished group of staff whose unwavering commitment to the health center mission and to the patients they serve has elevated the standard of care across our state. This year’s award recipients exemplify the very best of Maine’s community health movement and what it truly means to put patients first.”
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