The two maternal and child health nurses employed by Bangor’s public health department will remain on staff despite the state’s plan to take over public health nursing in the region.
The City Council officially accepted a grant Wednesday from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services for public health infrastructure over the next two years, which will be used in part to keep the two nurses whose positions otherwise would have lost funding.
The new funding comes after the state said in August that it planned to take over those services. Bangor leaders expressed skepticism at the time about whether the state’s nurses would be able to provide the same level of care as the city’s local program, which has been serving families in the area for decades.
The grant comes as a concession from the state so Bangor can continue deploying its own public health nurses in addition to state-run services which will not overlap with the work of the two Bangor nurses.
Bangor’s public health nurses conduct free home visits and offer support groups and other programming related to maternal and child health, services that are particularly vital for low-income families and those facing challenges related to disabilities, substance use disorder and housing instability.
City leaders initially met with state government officials, including Gov. Janet Mills, in hopes that they would reconsider the decision to take over those services in northern and eastern Maine. But the state remained firm, public health director Jennifer Gunderman told city councilors at a committee meeting last month.
The community health nursing grant that funded the program previously would have provided five years of funding. As an alternative, the state agreed to increase the funding provided on a two-year basis as part of a grant Bangor regularly receives for public health infrastructure, according to Gunderman.
The extra money will be used to continue providing maternal and child health services that won’t overlap with the services offered through the state, including lactation and maternal mental health support, Gunderman said previously.
