Special to the Transcript
Over the past year and a half, six very special Winthrop women have stepped up to the challenge of keeping our community safe and healthy. Led by Meredith Hurley, the Director of the Winthrop Health Department, she and five volunteer nurses and skilled health professionals rolled up the sleeves of hundreds of town residents to give COVID19 vaccinations and other health supports to some of our most vulnerable residents. These Hometown Health Heroes have given their time and expertise week after week, and hundreds of families in Winthrop have been helped tremendously, and touched by their grace and generosity.
The Winthrop Foundation gratefully recognizes the giving spirit of these women — and of all the Hometown Heroes — who’ve gone above and beyond during these challenging times. Keep an eye out for banners at the East Boston entrance that recognize and celebrate our Hometown Health Heroes:
Sue Gaughan is a retired nurse who has been a fixture in the Winthrop Public Health Department from the very start of the pandemic. She has given countless hours to contact tracing, isolation/quarantine follow ups, in home vaccines for those who otherwise would have been unable to access vaccinations. She is also a long-time member of the Winthrop MRC (Medical Reserve Corps).
Linda Calla began volunteering in the Winthrop Health Department to answer phones as the second surge of COVID19 began to overwhelm our community. She quickly became an integral part of the team with her logistical and organizational skills to help develop spreadsheets, organize necessary tasks, make vaccine and testing appointments, and most recently document vaccine clinics. Linda is an active member of the Winthrop MRC and is President of Survivors by the Sea, which has expanded from a cancer focus to community service.
Susan Maguire is a retired nurse, and former Board of Health member. She began volunteering with the Winthrop Health Dept. as a contact tracer and disease investigator. As a volunteer, she went through extensive training with the Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health to access the necessary reporting systems. Her attention to detail is second-to-none and provided immense support during the second surge of COVID19. Most recently, she continues to volunteer with local vaccine clinics as well.
Mary Lou Cooney is a retired Physician Assistant who has spent much of her career overseas, working in the Peace Corp and other organizations to address community health. She has been a huge asset to the COVID19 response as a contact tracer, disease investigator and a general consultant on providing community vaccines. Mary Lou is an active member of the MRC.
Sue Huberman is a retired nurse who experienced the immense toll of COVID19 firsthand. She began volunteering with the Winthrop Health Department to deliver homebound vaccines and has been a constant volunteer in our local vaccine clinics as well. Willing to help and support, even at the last minute, she has now been actively recruited to volunteer with the MRC as well.
Meredith Hurley is the the Director of the Winthrop Health Department and a Registered Nurse. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Bio-PreMed with communicable disease as the part she found most interesting, she shifted and received her nursing degree, worked for 12 years at Children’s Hospital and was asked to fill in for the public health nurse in Winthrop. Meredith then became Director of the Health Department. She’s now finishing her Master’s in Public Health as she leads the town through one its most challenging public health crises ever.