FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 3, 2011

Maine's Public Health Institute Moving to the University of Southern Maine's Muskie School

The board of directors of the Maine Center for Public Health has voted to move the organization's activities and role as the state's public health institute to the Cutler Institute for Health and Social Policy in the Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine. The transition will become effective in February 2011.

Since its founding in 1999, the Maine Center for Public Health has served as Maine's public health institute. It is one of more than a dozen state-level public health institutes around the country that promote multi-sector activities to achieve measurable improvements in public health structures, systems and health outcomes. The Center is affiliated with the National Network of Public Health Institutes.

According to the chair of the Center's board, Shawn Yardley, who directs the City of Bangor's public health programs, "this transition will provide stability and preserve the historic mission of the Center, something that has become hard to achieve as a small, stand-alone nonprofit entity." By moving the Center to the Muskie School, both parties are seeking to build a broad-based partnership of public and private organizations to support Maine's goal of becoming the healthiest state in the nation.

Andy Coburn, who chairs the Muskie School's academic and research programs in population health and health policy, noted that the aim of the move is, "to strengthen the public health institute's capacity to support population health improvement through enhanced access to public health education and training, research and evaluation, and technical assistance." The move will build on the University of Southern Maine's existing collaborative programs with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which serve as laboratories for designing and testing new programs, best practices and furthering a common agenda for public health improvement in Maine.

For those interested in more information about Maine's public health institute, please contact:

Kay Dutram
kdutram@usm.maine.edu
207-626-5222

About the University of Southern Maine Muskie School:

Through its teaching, research and public service, the Muskie School educates leaders, informs policy and practice, and strengthens civic life. In all its activities, the School carries on the values, ideals, and contributions of Edmund S. Muskie as exemplified in his long and distinguished career as a public servant for Maine and the nation.

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