As a public health nurse, Bobbie Bagley has immunized people against the flu, piloted a public health van offering HIV testing, taught nursing, directed the Manchester Minority Health Coalition and served on her local volunteer fire department.
Now, as Director of Public Health for the City of Nashua, she tends to the public health of more than 200,000 people in 13 communities.
Since March, she has been working 10- to 16-hour days, seven days a week, managing the region’s response to COVID-19.
When the first Nashua family had to isolate because of a positive COVID test, Bagley brought them food and a thermometer and made sure they had a way to get groceries. Since then, she has overseen community collaborations and systems responding to the crisis.
She also served on the Governor’s COVID-19 Equity Response Team, which made recommendations in response to data showing that Black and Latinx people are disproportionately affected by COVID.
She applies her public health lens to everything she does, including her volunteer work as a member of the Foundation’s Nashua Region Advisory Board.
The message she most wants people to hear now: “We’re not out of this pandemic yet. We still have to hunker down, we still have to be vigilant. Wear your mask, wash your hands, practice social distancing and stay home if you are sick.”
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