Board of Health

Approved 1.10.24 PRESENT: BOH Meeting Jo-Ann Keegan, Chairperson Kathleen Cullen-Lutter, Board Member Erin Gendron, Board Member Alison Keegan, Board Member Lisa Golden, HHS Director William Galvin, III Absent Chairperson Jo-Ann Keegan called the December 6, 2023 meeting of the Board of Health to order at 6:00PM 12/6/2023 - Minutes 1. NEW BUSINESS 1.I. For Acceptance: Minutes of the November 1, 2023 Meeting of the Lowell Board of Health Motion: To accept the minutes of the November 1, 2023 meeting of the Board of Health made by Erin Gendron, seconded by Alison Keegan. All in favor 1.II. Discussion: Development of Working Group Relative to Lowell Public School Sanitary Code Inspections Dr. James Hall, COO-LPS, Mr. Rick Underwood - Facilities Manager-LPS, Alish Spooner-Gomez - Aramark were present. Chairperson Keegan spoke about the sanitary code inspections in the schools and how the Board would like to assist the departments involved to develop a plan to address the issues prior to the start of the next school year. Mr. Rick Underwood, Facilities Manager - Lowell Public Schools, informed the Board that the School Department meets with the City Department of Public Works weekly to work on actions as they take place and they do received copies of the inspection reports from Sr. Sanitary Code Inspector Jimmy Le. Mr. Underwood invited Mr. Le to attend these meetings. Alisha Spooner-Gomez representing Aramack Food Services informed the Board that the cafeteria workers had their certificates. They had been stored in a binder but have now been posted onto the wall as required. Ms. Laura Ortiz, Lowell Resident, addressed the Board regarding the agenda item. Motion: to have Sr. Inspector Jimmy Le report to the Board on the meeting progress made by Kathleen Cullen-Lutter, seconded by Alison Keegan. All in favor 1.III. For Review: Monthly Development Services Reports submitted by Sr. Sanitary Code Inspector Jimmy Le Sr. Sanitary Code Inspector Jimmy Le reviewed the reports with the Board. Mr. Le informed the Board that he has spoken to the Building Commissioner about the development of a centralized shared spreadsheet for Development Services, DPW, and the School Department to use. 1.IV. For Review: Trinity EMS, Inc. Reports and Notifications submitted by Jon Kelley. Mr. Jon Kelly, PrideStar EMS and Mr. Casey Rainville, Lowell General Hospital Paramedics were present. Mr. Kelly reviewed the reports with the Board and noted the uptick in the November numbers. PrideStar is working with Tufts School of Medicine regarding the Opioid Search report. Additionally, PrideStar has obtained EMD Certification and is one of only 495 certifications worldwide and is the only one in Massachusetts. Mr. Kelly indicated to the Board that he would like to add two data points on page 8 – “No Transport” rate for BLS and ALS.  BOHM12062023 Page 2 Mr. Rainville addressed the Board regarding responses and how there is a unique situation of the tiered response system in Lowell using Lowell Fire Department, PrideStar and the LGH paramedics, and how to make this system more efficient. Mr. Rainville hopes to have a plan for reducing ALS responses to the Board in February. Mr. Rainville also updated the Board on the Mobile Integrated Health Program, which was started during the pandemic, and uses a fully stocked ambulance to tackle chronic disease management by visiting clients in their homes, thus keeping them out of the emergency department at the hospital. 1.V. For Review: Tobacco Control Monthly Report submitted by Cesar Pungirum, Program Director The Board had no questions and placed the report on file. 1.VI. For Review: 2024 Board of Health Calendar The Board had no changes to the 2024 Board of Health Meeting calendar. 2. OLD BUSINESS 2.I. For Review: Cashins & Associates Air Quality Report The Board had no questions regarding this report. Health & Human Services Director Lisa Golden informed the Board that the wall was patched at which time the levels dropped. Ms. Laura Ortiz, Lowell Resident, addressed the Board regarding Lowell High School and if there was a way to do a better job of containment pf debris and particles. Ms. Ortiz inquired if the Board could get the company to comply better. HHS Director Golden will review Mr. Underwood’s reports to see if there are any abnormalities. Director Golden will also review any reports of students going to the nurse’s office. 2.II. For Review: Pawtucket Memorial - EMSL Analytical Mold Reports Ms. Laura Ortiz, Lowell Resident, addressed the Board regarding the testing costs and questioned if the correct reports were being conducted. Ms. Ortiz then asked if PrideStar EMS was tracking calls for homeless individuals and if there was free access to Narcan. Director Golden informed Ms. Ortiz where free Narcan can be obtained and that it is difficult to track calls for homeless individuals due to their lack of address and reluctance to give their name. Additionally, opioid tracking is done by neighborhood. Mr. Flipp Visman addressed the Board regarding the homeless and if it was possible to build a park to give them a place to go. Chairwoman Keegan directed Mr. Visman to speak on the agenda matter. Mr. Visman then spoke to the Board regarding student access to birth control and that the schools shouldn’t be speaking to the students about the subject. Ms. Ortiz then readdressed the Board regarding parental consent. Director Golden indicated that access to birth control could be looked into, but students were not obtaining such services in the school nurses’ offices. Director Golden updated the Board regarding the mold testing being done at the Pawtucket Memorial. Additionally, Director Golden informed the Board that the Massachusetts Department of Climate and Environmental Health performed an air quality test and a report on that will be issued soon. 3. DIRECTOR'S REPORT 3.I. Departmental and Divisional Reports and Updates Director Golden reviewed the reports with the Board and spoke about current open positions and hiring efforts. 4. Motion: To Adjourn Motion: To adjourn at 7:33PM made by Kathleen Cullen-Lutter, seconded by Erin Gendron. All in favor. THE NEXT MEETING OF THE LOWELL BOARD OF HEALTH WILL BE HELD AT 6:00PM ON JANUARY 10, 2024 AT THE MAYOR’S RECEPTION ROOM, CITY HALL, 375 MERRIMACK ST 2ND FLOOR