About Caribou Healthcare Center

About Caribou Healthcare Center

1. Our Story

   Caribou Healthcare Center opened in 1973, built by a local farmer who left the fields to open a nursing home in his hometown. That same family went on to build Presque Isle Healthcare Center in 1976. The building here has grown since, including the addition of a secure memory care unit for residents living with Alzheimer's and dementia. Both facilities are now part of the First Atlantic Healthcare network; Caribou joined in 2025. What hasn't changed is the reason the doors stay open: the people of this region deserve good care close to home, so they don't have to choose between quality and being near the people they love.

2. The Building and Grounds

   Outside, a secure courtyard has a small fountain pond, a covered gazebo the staff recently refreshed, and a squirrel house for the local squirrels. Residents on the memory care unit have their own secure outdoor space with planters. Inside, private rooms with their own shower and bath were added for skilled nursing patients over the past decade. Residents look out on trees and open grass rather than brick. And Cary Medical Center is just minutes away.

3. What Sets Us Apart

   Talk to anyone who works here and you'll hear the same thing: our staff stays for the long term. Our director of nursing and her assistant director have each been with Caribou Healthcare Center for more than 30 years, and our social worker for more than 15. Two of our supervisors have been here six and seven years, which around here counts as still getting started. That kind of staying power means residents and families aren't meeting someone new every visit. Staff come to know residents' histories and the small things that matter to them, and they come to know the families too. A lot of our staff started here as students. Caribou trains CNA students from the local high school, along with nursing students from the University of Maine at Fort Kent and the local community college. Some of the nurses on our floor today started as CNAs right here, years before they had a degree. They keep coming back.

4. Part of First Atlantic Healthcare

   Caribou Healthcare Center is part of First Atlantic Healthcare, a Maine-based network of senior care communities. The people caring for your loved one are local. After decades on its own, Caribou now has a statewide network behind it for resources and support.

5. Our Standard of Care

   Caribou Healthcare Center is a licensed skilled nursing facility with 72 beds, certified by Medicare and MaineCare, dedicated to providing genuine care and comfort to our residents.