Last month, Maine CDC announced a change in leadership that will
provide both strong operational leadership and clinical expertise to the CDC
and position it for continued success.
Sheryl Peavey has been appointed the Chief Operating Officer
(COO), and Dr. Christopher Pezzullo has been named the State Health
Officer. The COO will be responsible for day-to-day operational
decision-making, while the State Health Officer’s clinical expertise will
inform decisions affecting public health for the Maine CDC and the DHHS.
Both positions will report directly to DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew. Former
Maine CDC Director Kenneth Albert resigned to take a job in the private sector.
Prior to this appointment, Peavey served as DHHS’ Director of
Strategic Reform. She has played an integral role in budget development,
contract evaluation, competitive procurement, Request for Proposal review and
development, performance measurement, grant approval and quality improvement
for the Maine CDC and other DHHS offices since 2013. While in this role, she
represented Maine at the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget’s Achieving
Results in State Government Summit in Utah.
Peavey is a graduate of Brandeis University as well as a member
of the Phi Class of Leadership Maine, a program of the Maine Development
Foundation. Since 2009, she has served continuous terms as an elected
member of her town’s Budget Committee. Her experience over a
12-year career in State government that focused on developing coordinated and integrated
programs and systems across all of DHHS has positioned her to provide strong
stewardship of public funds as we seek to achieve measurable outcomes that
preserve, promote and protect the health of all Maine people.
Dr. Pezzullo has been practicing medicine for nearly 20 years in
Maine as a pediatrician He’s a graduate of the University of New England
College of Osteopathic Medicine and has been recognized as a Diplomate of the
American Board of Pediatrics and the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners.
He became DHHS’ Chief Health Officer in 2014. During the last
year, Dr. Pezzullo has been a driving force behind the Department’s efforts to
address the public health epidemic of opioid and opiate use. He has
informed new laws that lower prescribing duration and prescription strength,
supported the required use of the Prescription Monitoring Program and assisted
in the development and creation of a new pilot project to test Vivitrol to
combat addiction.
Dr. Pezzullo joined Maine CDC as the Medical Director of the
Division of Population Health in 2012. Prior to joining State government,
he was the Chief Medical Officer for University Health Care from 2008 to 2012.
Dr. Pezzullo was also recently named the Maine Osteopathic
Association’s Physician of the Year.
