Abstract
This article describes the efforts of public health leaders to develop local public health capacity across Maine. More than 200 individuals representing both government and nongovernmental organizations became engaged in The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-sponsored Turning Point project in 1999. In recent years, the state has had only two local (city) health departments, only one of substantial capacity covering an extremely small proportion of the total state population. This article describes Maine Turning Point organizational efforts, challenges, successes, and failures, from the perspective of 3 individuals involved in the process. Five years later, a new network of state-financed, community-based partnerships focused on chronic disease risk factors has been established, apparently strong enough politically to survive in an era of severe state budget cuts. Tobacco use has been reduced. Many other serious public health issues, however, from obesity to mental illness and substance abuse, remain to be successfully addressed. The development of a sustainable statewide network of local agencies providing the essential public health services remains an elusive goal.