Courtesy / Sweetser
Jayne Van Bramer
June 24, 2022
Mental health care provider Sweetser names Oklahoman as new CEO
By William Hall
Sweetser, Maine’s largest nonprofit mental health care provider, has named a new president and CEO to succeed Debra Taylor, who stepped down in September after more than 20 years with the Saco-based organization.
Jayne Van Bramer, who most recently led a psychiatric hospital in Oklahoma, brings over 30 years of experience to the role at Sweetser, according to a news release Thursday.
Van Bramer served for 24 years with the New York State Office of Mental Health, where she held various positions and from 2013 to 2015 was senior associate commissioner for state-operated children’s and adult services.
Since then, she’s served as vice president of behavioral health at Brandywine Hospital in Coatesville, Pa.; CEO of Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital in Lancaster, Pa.; and CEO of Oakwood Springs, a psychiatric hospital in Oklahoma City.
When announcing her decision to leave Lancaster Behavioral Health in 2019, she said she planned to retire, according to a published report.
But on Friday, Van Bramer told Mainebiz, “My stints in Pennsylvania and Oklahoma were around leveraging my skill sets where needed at those times. I’m excited to return to the East Coast, where my family resides, to transition from for-profit entities to the nonprofit sector.
“I’m committed to Sweetser’s long-term success and progress. For anyone who knows me, retirement isn’t in the cards. I love this work, lifting up children and families.”
Sweetser Board Chair Jessica Demers said in a statement, “Jayne brings a wealth of experience to the role, having dedicated the entirety of her more than 30-year career to behavioral health. Sweetser has its own promising future with Jayne helming our next chapter.”
Taylor, a 2016 Mainebiz Woman to Watch, began work at Sweetser in 2000 as a director of patient accounts, and rose to become president and CEO in 2014. She left Sweetser in order to relocate outside Maine with her husband.
Following her departure, Sweetser’s chief program officer, James Martin, temporarily led the organization.
It was founded in 1828 by Cornelius Sweetser and for years ran orphanages. Today, Sweetser operates a network of dozens of sites across Maine, serving 20,000 clients annually in areas including mental and behavioral health, intellectual and developmental disabilities, recovery and education.
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