RUMFORD — The director of the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition said she is honored and surprised she and the organization were selected to lead the Western Maine District of the Healthy Maine Partnership.

Patricia Duguay of Byron has led the coalition since it began 15 years ago.

“This came on the 15th anniversary of my being involved with the RVHCC,” she said. “I feel honored. I was surprised that the RVHCC was chosen because of the size of our organization. I assumed they would go with a larger organization.”

The RVHCC employs two full-time and two part-time people.

Duguay is one of nine leaders of the state’s 27 healthy Maine partnership organizations by the MaineCenter for Disease Control and Prevention. She will coordinate bimonthly and quarterly meetings with the three other Western Maine Healthy Maine organizations and provide fiscal services for the distribution of federal funds to those organizations.

The other organizations are Healthy Androscoggin, Healthy Communities of Greater Franklin County and Healthy Oxford Hills, which together represent three counties.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention used a series of questions and qualities to choose the lead agency for each Healthy Maine Partnership. Each of the original 27 organizations was rated on the efficient use of public resources, ongoing support and promotion of new and developing public health infrastructure, the degree of collaboration with the Maine CDC, and the organization’s ability to meet the expectations of its contract with the Maine CDC, according to a statement from the Maine CDC.

Public health infrastructure means building organizations to meet such needs as assuring that people receive flu shots or find doctors so an emergency room visit will not be needed.

“Infrastructure is knowing who is doing what, and finding an agency to meet a need, or to try to fill a gap,” Duguay said.

The identification of lead agencies rather than the CDC dealing with all 27, came about because of a reduction in administrative overhead, duplication of work and a decrease in the administrative burden for state government, according to the Maine CDC release.

Duguay said each Healthy Maine Partnership organization had previously received funding based on population. Now, the four organizations in Western Maine will get roughly $140,000 each. The funds come from federal tobacco settlement money of more than a decade ago.

The River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition received 26 points, which tied with Portland Public Health. Twenty-six points was the highest any of the agencies scored.

In addition to conducting work through the RVHCC, Duguay said the agency is also taking over the school health program for RSU 10.

Duguay believes some job reductions will likely take place in the three other organizations. She said she will continue her duties with the River Valley coalition while serving as leader of the four. To do that, she said a part-time person may be added to her organization later this summer to help with paperwork.

The first meeting of the four Western Maine agencies will likely take place in late August or early September.

Duguay has worked with all four on a regular basis in the past, as well as with a multitude of ongoing and new health-related projects.

“Other agencies are just as deserving, but I’m proud that this area got it. I have a great staff to thank,” she said. “It feels good to be recognized.”

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