FARMINGTON – Though admittedly excited and nervous at the same time, Jill Berry Bowen is taking a big step in her career. She’ll be going from a hospital that has 70 beds to one that has 230 beds and is planning to build a new hospital.
The chief operating officer and vice president of Franklin Memorial Hospital is leaving her Farmington job to become the vice president of patient care services – nursing, pharmacy and the behavioral health program – at Mercy Hospital in Portland. Her last day at Franklin Memorial is Dec. 3.
The Avon woman who grew up in Phillips and Avon and graduated from Mount Abram High School says the move is “a huge step for me. It’s very significant.”
When she graduated from school she was going to be a physical education teacher. But that didn’t happen. Instead, she went into health care.
“It sort of found me,” she said.
She has worked at Franklin Memorial Hospital for 11 years.
“It has been a wonderful experience for me,” Berry Bowen said. “I couldn’t have learned from a more wonderful hospital giant, Rick Batt.”
But she has 20 years left to work, the registered nurse said, and she wants to further her education.
“I owe it to myself to explore a large hospital and I’m so fortunate to do it in Maine,” she said. “These opportunities don’t come about very often, especially in the state of Maine.”
Berry Bowen wore her “Tree of Hope” earrings and necklace as she does every day, while taking a break from her busy schedule to talk about her new job.
She said she hadn’t been looking for a new job but the opportunity came knocking when a friend, who had previously worked at Franklin Memorial Hospital, asked her if she had thought about going to a bigger hospital.
She hadn’t, she said, but one thing led to another and now she’s going to Mercy.
It was very quick, she said, and it was almost like it was meant to happen. “I don’t understand why this is happening,” Berry Bowen said, “yet it feels right.”
“Hopefully, I will come back and help the community in some way,” Berry Bowen said.
Berry Bowen and her husband, Tim, plan to balance their time, keeping a home in Avon and getting a place in the Portland area.
Her husband likes his job at Hight Chevrolet in Farmington and plans to stay there, she said.
Berry Bowen’s parents don’t want her to leave, she said, but they understand.
“This is about my career,” she said.
Berry Bowen has been instrumental in community organizations, including the Farmington Rotary Club, and is a founder of The Zone in Phillips, which promotes healthy activities for teenagers.
She had worked in nursing briefly, then in long-term care before Batt offered her a job with the hospital.
“He’s giving me so much,” she said of Batt.
The two created the values and mission statement for the hospital together.
“My whole job here is to provide a place to give exceptional patient care and to provide a workplace that gives good solid jobs and good satisfaction to the people,” she said. “We’re in the people business. I’ll always be in the people business because I care so much about people and bringing the best out of people to help them grow.”
It’s not going to be easy to go, she said. She’s already shed tears.
“I’m very emotional about it,” she said. “My heart is here. … It’s excitement and sadness in your life. You’re ending a chapter and beginning a new one.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
