The state Senate voted Thursday to confirm Gov. Janet Mills’ nominee to lead Maine’s largest agency, the Department of Health and Human Services.
Sara Gagné-Holmes was approved by a vote of 24-8 during a special confirmation session at the State House. She has been serving as acting commissioner at DHHS since June and previously worked as deputy commissioner in the department for five years.
The Readfield resident now takes over an agency facing numerous challenges. More than two dozen nursing homes have closed in Maine over the past decade. Finding child care is a struggle for many families. And lawmakers have been investigating child welfare programs at DHHS for several years following multiple high-profile deaths.
Those issues were top of mind for senators Thursday, several of whom said they opposed the nominee simply because they regarded her appointment as continuing the status quo.
“We need objectivity here, not an insider who has been there the whole time these problems have existed,” said Sen. Jeff Timberlake, a Turner Republican who serves on the Government Oversight Committee that has been investigating child welfare issues. “We need a fresh approach, not a recycled approach.”
But others praised Gagné-Holmes for her time at DHHS and her work outside of state government at Maine Equal Justice Partners and the John T. Gorman Foundation.
Gagné-Holmes said after the vote that she hopes to win the trust of the senators who raised concerns about her nomination and is ready to continue working on the challenges facing the department.
“Those issues … are my top priorities,” she said. “I definitely want to continue to strengthen the child welfare system, continue to work collaboratively with stakeholders to improve the services we provide. Child care obviously is critical to the economy of the state and we are working hard to improve those services. Long-term care, aging in place, those are all issues.”
Mills cheered the confirmation vote.
“Commissioner Gagné-Holmes cares deeply about the health, safety, and welfare of Maine people, and she has the knowledge and experience necessary to lead the Department,” Mills said in a statement. “Today’s vote is a testament to the fact.”
The Senate also voted unanimously to name Waterville’s former fire chief, Shawn Esler, as the new state fire marshal.
Esler, who lives in Albion, stepped down as Waterville’s chief last month in order to take the top post in the fire marshal’s office.
The office investigates the causes of fires, runs fire prevention and safety awareness programs and oversees many health and safety inspection processes in the state. But there have been complaints for several years about the work environment in the office, which some employees have described as hostile or even toxic.
During his confirmation hearing last month, Esler pledged to address those and other concerns. His predecessor, Richard McCarthy, retired this summer.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
