Brian Pierce, M.D., has announced that Adda Winkes, M.D., will be joining Megunticook Medicine, a direct primary care practice in Rockport.

Winkes graduated from the School of Medicine at Brown University in 1998. She completed her pediatric residency at the University of Chicago Children’s Hospital, and earned board certification in Pediatrics in 2001.

After living and working in Honolulu and Virginia, Winkes and her husband, Tim Kunkel, moved to Rockport with their three children in 2016 when she joined Pen Bay Pediatrics, where she currently serves as the Chair of the Pediatrics Department and Site Director of Pen Bay Pediatrics. 

Despite the positive and challenging nature of her work at Pen Bay, Winkes has become increasingly frustrated with practicing medicine within the constraints of the health insurance-based payment system, according to a news release from Megunticook Medicine.

She has been intrigued by other models of care for some time and is enthusiastic about the promise that direct primary care offers: To spend more time with her young patients and their families, exactly the part of practicing medicine that she enjoys the most, the release said.

“I have spent the last 20 years practicing pediatrics in a variety of settings: in hospitals, in a military clinic, and in busy offices, she said, in the release. “I have enjoyed each of these and I love being a pediatrician. As I look forward to the second half of my career, though, I find I want the ‘treat’ of practicing DPC.

“It occurs to me that pediatrics is particularly well suited to direct primary care. With freedom from insurance-based constraints, pediatricians have more time to spend with the patients and families they care for: providing anticipatory guidance about children’s growth and development, offering parenting advice and ‘taking their time’ with counseling teens. Different models of care are possible, including use of electronic communication, phone calls and telehealth - where appropriate - instead of exclusively face-to-face visits. With limited staff, advice comes directly from the doctor. And the doctor is easy to reach.”

Instead of an insurance-based payment system, direct primary care practices offer a set monthly membership. With smaller patient panels, and without the constraints of the insurance payment system, more quality time is available and schedules are more flexible and accessible, the release said. Patients and families enjoy the uncomplicated structure of the practice and unparalleled access to their doctor. Doctors enjoy having the freedom to practice with less of an administrative burden, yielding more time for doctor-patient interactions. 

Brian Pierce, M.D., opened Megunticook Medicine in 2015, being only the third DPC physician in Maine at the time. There are now 26 DPC physicians in the State of Maine and over 2,200 nationwide.

Winkes will be starting with Megunticook Medicine in July and is accepting new patients. Please Visit megunticookmedicine.com for details.