Board of Health

City of Nashua Division of Public Health & Community Services 18 Mulberry Street, Nashua, NH 03060 BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING September 14, 2011 12:30 PM 18 Mulberry Street Nashua, NH 03062 MEETING MINUTES BOH Members Present: Dr. Anthony Storace and Dr. Peter Klementowicz Aldermen Present: None Staff Present: Heidi Peek, Patty Crooker, Ashley Conley, Christine Caron, Bob Mack, Victoria Alabi, Corinn Dembkoski, Barbara Scacco The Board was given the meeting Agenda, monthly departmental reports, and the BOH Meeting Minutes from the August 10, 2011 meeting. Meeting called to order at 12:50 p.m. by Dr. Storace 1. Vote on August 2011 Minutes: a. Motion presented by Dr. Storace to approve August 2011 Minutes b. Motion seconded by Dr. Klementowicz 1  Department Reports Community Health – Presented by Christine Caron  Reviewed the 18 communicable disease reports for the month of August  Lead Screening conducted on 53 children at Head Start  Safe Choices – Cycle started on August 17th  Participated in the Touch a Truck event held on Saturday, August 6th. o Health education materials were distributed to 100 individuals/families.  People are still calling regarding the STD Clinic, which we currently do not have o We are referring them to their primary care physician or urgent care/emergency room for follow-up services  It is expected that flu clinics will be starting at the end of September/beginning of October, and school clinics will be starting the week of October 16th.  We have two vacancies: o Manager, Community Health o Public Health Nurse  Refugees o 3 new refugees arrived from Malaysia during the week of August 25th.  They are in the process of having their TB tests performed, and immunizations updated.  Had a case of active pulmonary TB Health Education and Tobacco – Presented by Corinn Dembkoski  Tobacco Grant for FY12 was just passed on August 24th  Involved with some of the Incident Responses; ie, MRSA, Back to School, etc.  Created the Tobacco Control webpage o “1-800-Quit Now”  Now that the grant is approved, more regional work can be done. o Working with coalition – Milford Community Resources Environmental Health – Heidi Peek presented  Compliance with ground turkey recall – the system is working as it should o Touched base with all the small stores, and most don’t carry ground turkey  Had a temporary closure due to no hot water and business resumed once hot water was available.  Revoked a license for non-payment of the license fee, which was paid and reinstated the next day upon receipt of payment.  Food samples were good for August.  Review of pool samples was good o Close and Shock went well  Bed bugs continue to be a concern o Keira handles this in the lab 2   Housing Assessment held at 23-25 Temple Street together with Code Enforcement, and also in response to bed bug complaints  Arboviral o Two positive batches of mosquitoes  Bird biters, not human biters o Assessing Department put together good maps with site location o Disseminated information to high risk groups, i.e. senior housing o It was decided not to spray o Also disseminated DEET packages to Nashua Soup Kitchen, Welfare Department and Cemetery and DPW workers  Meetings – Incident Response Team  Meredith completed the Septic Review Manual  Meredith and Heidi gave a bed bug presentation to the residents of 57 Tyler Street at the request of the Nashua Housing Authority. Emergency Preparedness – Patty Crooker and Ashley Conley presented  Patty Crooker o Hurricane Irene  Participated at both the city and regional level.  Several conference calls were hosted by the National Weather Service  Shelters were opened throughout the region  Attended a debriefing at the Mayor’s office this week  Biggest issue was the lack of communication with Red Cross o On August 25th, the PHEP hosted an Infectious Disease Conference at Nashua Community College  Sponsored by the San Francisco Bay Area Advanced Practice Center  They presented the Infectious Disease Emergency Response (IDER) Toolkit  Also presented was the Seasonal & Pandemic Influenza Vaccination Assessment (SPIVA) Toolkit.  36 people attended  Ashley Conley o Small E.coli outbreak in Nashua and a positive West Nile Virus mosquito batch o Infection Control Practitioners Work Group  Victoria will coordinate activities and meetings o The CHA is now complete and has been put onto the City of Nashua website  Copies are currently being made and the BOH members will receive their copies once that is completed. 3 Welfare - Bob Mack presented  Expenditures are up, cases are up, and vouchers are up. o Shelter, rent and fuel expenses are all up o We have expended $134,000 for general assistance so far for FY2012.  Up over $20,000 from last year at this time o We had 211 different cases for August  165 more than last year  313 Vouchers o Assisted 16 homeless families at motels, as well as 9 families and 17 individuals to public shelters and/or homeless outreach during the month of August. Dr. Storace: Questions: None Closed this part of the session Public Comments None Public session closed Formal Meeting Ended: 1:08 p.m. The next BOH Meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 12, at 12:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted: Barbara A. Scacco Administrative Assistant II Public Health & Community Services 4