Board of Health

KEVIN A. ELAK, MPH City of Middletown Director of Health Department of Health 245 deKoven Drive Middletown, CT 06457 TEL: (860) 638-4960 FAX: (860) 638-1960 TDDL: (860) 344-3521 Middletown Board of Health Minutes from April 9, 2024 Meeting Present: Robyn Anderson, Tanielle Davis, Patricia DiStefano, Kevin Elak, Anthony Mangiafico, Leslie Spatola Absent: Brian Gartner Jr, Yvonne Joy, Stan Opalacz Call To Order:  Chairwoman DiStefano called the meeting to order at 6:10 PM. Approval of Minutes:  Minutes presented from the March 12, 2024 meeting. Motion by Anthony Mangiafico, 2nd by Leslie Spatola. All in favor. Motion Passed. Public Hearing for Agenda Items:  None Public Health Block Grant Applicant Presentations  Liz Lalor from Oddfellows Playhouse gave a brief presentation about their grant application. Directors Report:  Director of Health o Director Elak provided several updates:  A Rapid Community Assessment was conducted by the health department from February 20th – March 8th. The purpose was to interview community members and key stakeholders about their thoughts and attitudes toward COVID and Flu vaccines. Data from the  interviews will be used to develop interventions and media messaging to improve vaccine confidence and uptake.  The Department of Public Health gave an update recently to local health department and districts about recent activity with H5N1 or Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus (HPAI) in the U.S. A person in Texas recently tested positive for HPAI after having being exposed to infected dairy cattle. The person’s symptoms were mild and they are expected to make a full recovery. There is no current evidence of human-to-human transmission of HPAI. Federal and state officials are closely monitoring the situation.  Division Report o Tanielle Davis, Public Health Manager, provided an update for the environment health and housing division, emergency preparedness, and health education. Old Business:  Director Elak provided an update on congregate meals. There is finally an MOU between the City of Middletown and The Estuary to provide congregate meals at the Senior Center. Kitchen renovations are completed and congregate meals have resumed. The Estuary hired the café manager from CRT to serve the meals. This will be removed from Old Business moving forward.  Director Elak provided an update on the status of Automatic External Defibrillators in City of Middletown buildings. The health department is working on a draft policy for the maintenance of inspection of AED units. An ad-hoc subcommittee has been created from the Mayor’s Safety Committee to identify City of Middletown buildings that should have an AED. There have been 18 locations identified. The subcommittee approved the purchase of Physio Control Lifepak AED’s from Common Sense EMS Supply. The AED prices are per CT State Contract. The next step is to work with Rohan Manning to see if Local Capital Improvement (LoCIP) funding can be used to purchase new AED’s.  There were no new updates regarding the subject of homelessness and panhandling on Main Street. New Business:  No new business. Other:  Director Elak told commissioners that Stan Opalacz emailed him recently to formally announce his resignation from the Board of Health Commission, effective immediately. Dr. Opalacz stated in his email that, “I enjoyed my many years of serving on the Middletown Board of Health but I feel now is the time for me to retire”. Dr. Opalacz was thanked for his many years of service as a Board of Health Commissioner.  Captain David Godwin from Middletown PAL sent an email to Director Elak to request a change to the Public Health Block Grant Contract Funding Date 07/01/2023 to 06/30/2024. Middletown PAL was approved for “partial funding for vending machine to provide healthy snacks during PAL events.” Middletown PAL purchased an Elkay Water Dispenser (Battle Water Filler) for the amount of $1,389.10, of which we paid 50 percent ($694.55 and the grant paid $694.55). We have a balance of $1,805.45 of the $2,500 grant. Capt. Godwin is requesting to be permitted to use the remaining funds to go towards a Boxing Ring from Monster Rings and Cages. A motion was made to approve the request was made by Pat DiStefano, 2nd by Anthony Mangiafico. Motion unanimously passed. Adjournment:  Motion made by Councilman Mangiafico to adjourn. 2nd by Leslie Spatola Motion unanimously passed. Meeting adjourned at 6:43 PM. Respectfully Submitted, Kevin A. Elak, MPH Director of Health