State pays $250K for 3-month COVID contract

The state has contracted with an outside firm to handle COVID-19-related media relations and communications for the state Department of Public Health.

The state is paying McDowell Communications Group $250,000 over the next three months, from the state’s allotment of $1.4 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds, according to Max Reiss, spokesman for Gov. Ned Lamont.

Maura Fitzgerald, a senior vice president at the firm and former state communications officer, will have primary responsibility at DPH and will be assisted by others at McDowell Communications, including Dean Pagani, who was chief spokesman and chief of staff for former Gov. John G. Rowland.

In a statement sent by email, Reiss said the federal money would be used “in furtherance of the state’s pandemic response efforts to communicate clearly with Connecticut residents.”

DPH spokesman Av Harris will remain at his post, covering all non-COVID communications for the department.

“Maura is now spending all her time on the state’s COVID and vaccine efforts,” McDowell Communications President Duby McDowell said by email. “We have hired additional staff to assist her and to handle her sizeable workload at the firm.”

Fitzgerald referred questions to Reiss. She is not a newcomer to Connecticut politics, or the state Department of Public Health.

“She spent three years at the Department of Public Health,” Reiss said, “and she has already shown to be an incredibly valuable addition to our team, jumping right in as we initiated the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines both in healthcare institutions and long-term care facilities.”

Prior to working at the state DPH, Fitzgerald worked as deputy state director for U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, and she had worked in communications for Blumenthal’s 2010 Senate campaign and in his office as state Attorney General. She has also worked in the General Assembly and in the office of the Secretary of the State.

McDowell is also co-host of the WFSB-TV Channel 3 Sunday morning public affairs talk show, “Face the State,” which was previously hosted by Dennis House. House, who left Channel 3 in September, announced Monday he is joining WTNH-TV Channel 8 in January as chief political anchor.