Maine native picked to lead largest department in Maine government

AUGUSTA, Maine – Gov. Janet Mills announced Thursday she will nominate Sara Gagné-Holmes to serve as Commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

Gagné-Holmes will face a hearing before the legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee and must be confirmed by the Maine State Senate.

Gagné-Holmes, a Maine native who has served as Deputy Commissioner of the Department for the past five years, has been the Acting Commissioner since June 1, after Jeanne Lambrew stepped down to become the Director of Health Care Reform for the Century Foundation, a Washington-based think tank focusing on research and policy change.

“Acting Commissioner Gagné-Holmes cares deeply about the health, safety, and welfare of Maine people, and she has dedicated nearly her entire professional career to improving the lives of people across this state,” Mills said. “Her deep policy and managerial experience, her intimate knowledge of the department — including both its strengths and its challenges — along with the respect she has earned from her colleagues, lawmakers and others, and her collaborative approach to solving problems make her the right person at the right time to take on this important role.”

DHHS is the largest department in the Maine state government, with more than 3,000 employees across eight Offices and two psychiatric hospitals.

“The Department has made great strides in advancing our mission of ensuring health, safety, resilience, and opportunity for Maine people. We have more work to do to fully implement our progress, better meet the needs of the Maine people we serve, and continue building trust through listening, transparency, and accountability. I look forward to discussing how we will achieve those goals with the legislature, our many partners, and the public,” Gagne-Holmes said.

Gagné-Holmes grew up in Sanford before earning an undergraduate degree at Bowdoin College in Brunswick and a law degree from the University of Maine School of Law. After law school, she served as a law clerk with the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

She practiced law with a focus on health care at a Maine law firm before serving as a Health Policy and Legal Advisor in the Governor’s Office under Gov. John Baldacci. She also led work in nonprofit legal services and advocacy at Maine Equal Justice Partners and philanthropy at the John T. Gorman Foundation.

She joined the Maine Department of Health and Human Services in March 2019.

Copyright 2024 WABI. All rights reserved.