Bangor’s public health director is retiring after a decade in the position punctuated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the statewide opioid epidemic and rising homelessness in the city.
Patty Hamilton’s last day as Bangor’s public health director is Feb. 16 and Jennifer Gunderman will step into the role on April 1.
Gunderman will lead the city’s public health department, which oversees programs that offer home health visits for new mothers and their infants, substance use diversion and cessation resources, and vaccination clinics.
Hamilton joined the city in 1987 as a nurse responsible for conducting home visits and later became public health nursing director before taking over as director of the department. During her decade as director, Hamilton saw the city through public health crises, perhaps the most challenging of which, she said, was the ongoing opioid epidemic.
Though Hamilton has played a role in the creation and continuation of countless programs, she said she’s most proud of helping to build the Community Health Leadership Board about 10 years ago, which brings together local health care and social service leaders to address major health challenges in Bangor.
Initially, the board spoke primarily about the stigma surrounding substance use disorder and ways to address addiction locally, Hamilton said. It found Bangor was missing a detox center and treatment facility and worked to establish those resources.
“We started to fill in the gaps in our community and we continue to do that 10 years later,” Hamilton said. “We don’t always agree, but we have a caring and engaged community at all levels.”
Gunderman comes to Bangor after 26 years in public health. Most recently, she served as the director of the Maine Area Health Education Center for five years. She has also been Midcoast Maine’s public health liaison for the Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention.
“Patty is leaving an amazing legacy,” Gunderman said. “She has built an infrastructure I feel very lucky to walk into. I have always admired Patty’s approach. She is a steady hand, is fair and has incredible professional grace.”
Gunderman previously worked as an epidemiologist and health educator for the Maine Bureau of Health, was a health and safety director in Maine for the American Red Cross and worked as a public health specialist for the U.S. Peace Corps in the African country of Niger.
“What I’m really excited about is getting into the Bangor community, listening and learning what the core issues are as they relate to public health and wellbeing,” Gunderman said.
Once Gunderman finds gaps that hurt the community’s physical and mental health, she wants to address the source of those issues, which could be anything from social isolation to a lack of healthy food.
Though she wants to take time to learn what Bangor needs when she begins her new job, Gunderman said high rates of substance use disorder and poor mental health among youth appears to be among the city’s biggest challenges.
The latter likely stems from the year or two students spent out of school, Gunderman said, isolated from friends and unable to participate in sports and other activities.
“We have a generation that experienced trauma from COVID-19,” Gunderman said. “If we want to have healthy adults, we need to address the challenges that our youth are facing.”
Gunderman’s experience teaching undergraduate and graduate public health courses at the University of New England, University of Southern Maine and University of Vermont could also help her communicate Bangor’s public health needs with city officials, Hamilton said.
Hamilton advised Gunderman to “be open to the possibilities, be a good listener and ask a lot of questions,” upon taking over as director.
“You have to build trust with your community so they know they can come to you, and that takes time,” Hamilton said. “We’re caring, nurturing and we know each other. We’re a community that’s willing to step up and help each other, and that’s no small thing.”
