Gov. Janet Mills announced on Friday that she has chosen an acting commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services following the departure of the current director on May 31.
Current Deputy Commissioner Sara Gagne-Holmes will serve as acting commissioner starting on June 1. Current Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew will be leaving the position on May 31 to take a teaching position at Harvard.
Gagne-Holmes has served as a deputy commissioner since 2019.
“I look forward to the opportunity to build on Commissioner Lambrew’s transformative leadership of the Department and to advancing our vital work during this transition,” she said in a Friday statement.
Lambrew served as commissioner under Mills since 2018, and helped the state weather the COVID-19 pandemic, although she faced tough challenges while grappling with Maine’s troubled child welfare system that saw a record numbers of kids die in recent years.
The governor is expected to name a permanent nominee to the commissioner position within the next few weeks, her office said Friday.
