Board of Health

City of Nashua Division of Public Health & Community Services 18 Mulberry Street, Nashua, NH 03060 BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING March 9, 2011 12:30 PM 18 Mulberry Street Nashua, NH 03062 MEETING MINUTES BOH Members Present: Dr. Anthony Storace Dr. Ajay Sharma Aldermen Present: Lori Wilshire Staff Present: Kerran Vigroux, Heidi Peek, Bob Mack, Bobbie Bagley, Patty Crooker, Ashley Conley, Chris Lister, Sandy Mulcahy The Board was given the meeting Agenda, monthly departmental reports, current Board of Health budget and February BOH Meeting Minutes. Meeting called to order at 12:42 p.m. by Dr. Storace - Quorum was met (Formal Meeting) 1. Request to vote on the December 2010 and February 2011 BOH Minutes. a. Dr. Sharma approved b. Dr. Storace seconded 1 Department Reports Community Health – Presented by Betty Wendt  STD Testing o Year to Date: 35 cases o Chlamydia: 7 positive cases o Syphilis: Number of cases has increased  Measles o In flight case of measles o Flew here from Denmark  GI Illness Cluster o Norovirus at Nashua Community College  Three positive cases  Lots of work going on with this situation  Lyme Reports o January had 4 reports, 2 active cases o February had 3 active cases  World TB Day is March 23, 2011 o Education session will be held at St. Joseph’s Hospital for nurses  “TB or Not TB”  Dr. Daniels will do 101 training and case studies  Suspect Active TB case o Homeless male at SNHMC put in ICU o Discharged against medical advice o As of today, he is Asymptomatic  STD - HIV o Nashua Community College students are doing observations with us by shadowing the nurses o Rivier student was assisting in Clinic on Tuesday night. Grants/Child Care – Chris Lister presented  The Child Care Advisory Commission of Nashua o Resource Fair – Children and families are welcome o Easter Bunny will be there o Week of the Young Child: April 10 – 16, 2011  Grants o Lead Grant – received word that they are rethinking the RFP and rewriting the grant  We already submitted our application, and will submit a new one o Contract for immunizations  Waiting for it to be accepted by the Board of Aldermen  The Budget Bill is the big thing right now. Emergency Preparedness – Patty Crooker presented  Attended the National NACCHO Summit o Used Public Health Amendment funds  Great networking opportunities 2   Working with the State on a small sub-committee to develop a new template for the study of the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Plans to be more in line with the State and Federal format.  Working on State POD Planning, which will be rolled out in March.  Also being rolled out to the Regions is the Med Surge template that both Ashley and I have worked on with two sub-committees.  Ashley Conley o Infection Control Practitioners Meeting was held at Greenbriar Terrace on February 23, 2011  Dr. Jodie Dionne-Odom, of NH DHHS, spoke about MRSA, other infectious diseases and emergency preparedness in the Greater Nashua Region  Community Health Assessment Focus Groups o The Key Leader Group met on March 3rd at SNHMC and included key leaders from the community o The Provider Focus Group met on March 7th at St. Joseph’s Hospital and included medical providers from the community o Both groups identified the major concern to be Unhealthy Behavior: Nutrition and Obesity.  Kerran Vigroux announced that Ashley has been invited to present at the National Council for State and Territorial Epidemiologists Conference in Pennsylvania. Her oral presentation will focus on the technology used during the Health Survey. Health Education – Presented by Kerran Vigroux  Corinn has been busy preparing for the 2nd annual National Public Health Week, which will be held during the week of April 4th. o Kick-Off will be April 4th in the courtyard in front of City Hall. o This year’s focus will be “Safety is No Accident; Live Injury Free”. o She is working with our community partners on weekly events o This year we will reach out to community organizations to help promote safety o Donations will be made by various companies  Colon Cancer Awareness Month o Last Friday Corinn had a table at City Hall from 10 AM – 2 PM promoting colon care  The Mayor spoke at this event  Employees wore blue on Friday in recognition of Colon Cancer Awareness.  Tobacco o Corinn has started meetings with the people from the Cynthia Day Group and has paired up with a physician from St. Joseph’s  The ladies of Cynthia Day are very receptive to the stop smoking campaign  Incentives are being incorporated into this event o She is working with the schools, and on March 23rd will conduct a “Kick Butts Day”. 3 Environmental Health – Heidi Peek presented  Meredith has returned after being on maternity leave, which has helped with the current inspection backlog.  Tokyo Japanese Steak House had problems and was closed for a period of time.  Sausage King at Exit 6 has been closed down. This is no longer a problem as the cart has been sold.  Norovirus has been ongoing, but things seem to be quieting down.  New Federal Food Code o New forms and processes o We will do background work  Food sampling results are not back yet, so are not included in this month’s report  Bedbugs are constant; and not all calls are recorded  Complaint about an indoor public pool o Ceiling tiles fell in, so it was not a physical problem with the pool, but a hazardous problem.  Housing Assessment o Elderly couple with a maintenance issue was assisted by Urban Programs to make structural changes, which worked out well.  Septic plans are starting to come in.  We have been presenting to the police recruits o Educational Sessions  Ashley Conley: Blood born pathogens  Bobbie Bagley: MRSA  Heidi Peek: Bed Bugs Mediation – Sandy Mulcahy presented  Sandy had the opportunity to do a workshop at Immaculate Conception Church on “Improving Communication and Relationships” o Attendees included women from Marguerite’s Place, as well as a few juveniles.  Another presentation was held at Nashua Community College at their Peace and Social Justice Mediation Class.  The volunteer group formed an advisory committee in promoting the program Welfare - Bob Mack presented  There was a slight decrease in expenditures this month; primarily in the shelter line item  The number of interviews during February decreased  Percentage of people receiving aid is stable  Some of the decreases we are seeing are due to the end of the fuel assistance program as well as people receiving their income tax refund checks.  Some of the Federal dollars in the Social Security program have helped people in need. o Some programs will be going away and budget changes at the state level will have an impact.  General Assistance expenditures are down over 1/3 of the budget for the year, so we are doing well and plan to give back to the general fund. 4 Lyme Disease Presentation by Ashley Conley  Last summer our intern, Max Cernuda, did a project which focused on ticks and Lyme disease.  Copies of the presentation were given to the Board and discussion followed.  Ashley discussed his presentation and answered questions. Public Comments None Public session closed Motion to adjourn meeting: Dr. Sharma Seconded by: Dr. Storace Meeting Ended: 1:34 p.m. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 18 Mulberry Street, Nashua, NH, 2nd floor, Conference Room B Respectfully submitted: Barbara A. Scacco Administrative Assistant II Public Health & Community Services 5