BELFAST and ROCKPORT — Pen Bay Medical Center and Waldo County General Hospital announced April 22, 2022 the appointment of Art Durity as director of communications and public affairs.

Durity has been with the local health system for the past three years as a communications and public affairs manager. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Connecticut College, and his experience as a communications leader dates to 1995 when he went to work at KPMG Peat Marwick, in New York, as director of corporate communications for the Northeast Region.

In 1999 Durity founded his own newspaper, the Berlin Citizen, in Berlin, Connecticut, which subsequently merged with Connecticut’s Meriden Record-Journal, where he served as suburban editor and business editor.

After moving to Maine in the early 2000s, he worked as a freelance photographer and writer and also supported his family catering businesses, overseeing marketing and communications. Durity joined MaineHealth in 2019 as a communications and public affairs manager assigned to Pen Bay Medical Center and Waldo County General Hospital.

“We were all very impressed with Art during the process of our search for a new communications director,” said Mark Fourre, MD., president of the health system, in a news release. “Art is a talented writer who has a clear vision for how he would help us to continue to build our community relations and support our care team with timely and relevant communications.”

Durity replaces Jen Harris, who left the organization in December to take a role at another hospital system out of state.

“Over the 20 years I’ve been in the community, I’ve come to appreciate its special nature – the natural beauty, the welcoming people – and having an opportunity to be in this role in an organization so dedicated to the health of our communities is exciting,” said Durity.

About Pen Bay Medical Center

Pen Bay Medical Center is a not-for-profit, Top Rural, Leapfrog Hospital Safety Score Graded and the largest community hospital in Midcoast Maine. Pen Bay Medical Center operates as a family of services that also includes Pen Bay Physicians & Associates, Quarry Hill Retirement Community, the Knox Center and the Sussman House. Through these organizations, and with a staff of more than 100 outstanding physicians and more than 1,500 healthcare professionals, we are able to provide the people of Midcoast Maine with a continuum of both routine and specialty patient-centered medical services. Pen Bay Medical Center is part of the Coastal Healthcare Alliance and the MaineHealth system.

About Waldo County General Hospital

Waldo County General Hospital is a 2017 Becker’s Hospital Review Critical Access Hospital to Know that operates as a family of services with Waldo County Medical Partners and Penobscot Shores Retirement Community. Through these organizations, we are committed to providing excellent care for patients and their families in a friendly, caring atmosphere. Services are provided as efficiently as possible with an eye on the future and in collaboration with other community-minded agencies. Waldo County General Hospital is part of the Coastal Healthcare Alliance and the MaineHealth system.

About MaineHealth:

MaineHealth is a not-for-profit integrated health system whose vision is “Working together so our communities are the healthiest in America.” It consists of nine local hospital systems, a comprehensive behavioral healthcare network, diagnostic services, home health agencies, and more than 1,500 employed and independent physicians working together through the MaineHealth Medical Group. With approximately 22,000 employees, MaineHealth provides preventive care, diagnosis and treatment to 1.1 million residents in Maine and New Hampshire. It includes Franklin Memorial Hospital/Franklin Community Health Network in Farmington, LincolnHealth in Damariscotta and Boothbay Harbor, Maine Behavioral Healthcare in South Portland, MaineHealth Care at Home in Saco, Maine Medical Center in Portland, Memorial Hospital in North Conway, N.H., Mid Coast-Parkview Health in Brunswick, NorDx in Scarborough, Pen Bay Medical Center and Waldo County General Hospital in Rockport and Belfast, Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford and Sanford, Spring Harbor Hospital in Westbrook and Stephens Memorial Hospital/Western Maine Health Care in Norway. MaineHealth Affiliates include Maine General Health in Augusta and Waterville, New England Rehabilitation Hospital in Portland and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston. It is also a significant stakeholder in the MaineHealth Accountable Care Organization in Portland.