Board of Health

City of Nashua Division of Public Health & Community Services 18 Mulberry Street, Nashua, NH 03060 BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING November 9, 2011 12:30 PM 18 Mulberry Street Nashua, NH 03062 MEETING MINUTES BOH Members Present: Dr. Anthony Storace, Dr. Peter Klementowicz, Dr. Ajay Sharma Aldermen Present: Lori Wilshire Staff Present: Kerran Vigroux, Howard Price, Patty Crooker, Ashley Conley, Nancy Bissell, Bob Mack, Victoria Alabi, Corinn Dembkoski, Barbara Scacco Meeting called to order at 12:30 p.m. by Dr. Storace 1. Vote on the October 9, 2011 meeting Minutes: a. Motion presented by Dr. Storace to approve October 9, 2011 Minutes b. Motion seconded by Dr. Klementowicz 1  Department Reports Community Health – Presented by Nancy Bissell  Extremely busy, but soon we will have a new nurse  During the month of October there were 16 communicable disease investigations  A case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.  A Case of Malaria  One active TB case  The Immunization Clinic has been very busy, especially now that we are giving flu shots. o We have vaccinated 76 children; 886 adults and 715 individuals at schools though October  One new case of lead poisoning  HIV Prevention Safe Choices – 7 individuals in this cycle  NH DHHS publishes a yearly report for Lyme disease which is available on their website. Health Education and Tobacco – Presented by Corinn Dembkoski  Health Education o Flu Clinics have started. Slides have been created to promote this on our website and cable stations o Gave a Bed Bug presentation at Arel Manor o Finishing up a brochure on the Division explaining ‘who we are’ as well as updating the website  Tobacco o Working with the Nashua Prevention Coalition  Due to lack of funding, we have been more strategic with our efforts. o Great American Smoke-Out  Will have a table in the City Hall Rotunda with informative hand-outs  Promoting Buddy Support  Dear Me Campaign  1-800-QuitNow  Support Group  Insurance will pay for 2 months of NRT for City employees Environmental Health – Howard Price presented  Storm: Food information and disposal  Food Sampling Results: one establishment did not get good results, and we are going to do a re-sampling. o September food results were good for the remaining samples.  Bed Bug calls are still coming in, and we are looking to update the brochure  Free radon kits were received from the State for distribution to our region  Indoor pool inspections are complete 2   Heidi Peek attended the 1st Annual Healthy Homes Conference and the NH Health Officer Association Meeting, with specific focus on the Health Officer role during emergencies. Emergency Preparedness – Patty Crooker and Ashley Conley presented  Patty Crooker o Biggest event in October was the winter storm, which caught everyone off guard.  70% of the City had no power  EOC was opened from Sunday, October 30th through Friday, November 4th  Public Heath Staff helped out at the EOC  Public Health deployed 6 oxygen concentrators, 3 wheelchairs and 70 special needs cots to the shelter for use in the supportive care section. The Red Cross managed the Shelter.  Our partnership with Welfare worked well  Dr. Storace suggested that this be a positive press event  Check with Justin Kates  Kerran stated that we had the most medical needs in our shelter (>50%).  Dr. Storace felt that there was a lack of communication from the City about the shelter being open during this event.  Ashley Conley o Tonight Kerran and Ashley will give a presentation to the Board of Aldermen on CHA. o The next step, The Community Health Improvement Plan, will have a group of 26 people from 24 organizations.  This plan will take approximately one year to put together o Next week Ashley will go to the CDC to be part of a panel discussing CASPAR protocol. The panel will consist of people from only 7-8 states. o We have had a few outbreaks of pertussis in our schools. Welfare - Bob Mack presented  Slight decrease in numbers for October o Fewer interviews and cases coming through the door o Slight decrease in expenditures o This month’s report shows a graphical view of numbers and will continue this in future months o Decrease in vouchers  Thirteen families in motels and local shelters working at or above capacity  Working on the Project Homeless Event. o December 6th at Harbor Homes from 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. o We will be involved along with other social service agencies  Fuel Assistance though Southern NH Services o They are taking applications now  We are on track with FY 12 budget and we will keep doing what we can to help folks in need 3 Community Services - Kerran Vigroux  The new Manager of Community Health, Nancy Seskes, has accepted our offer and will be starting on Monday, November 21, 2011. She will be here for our next BOH meeting.  Kerran spoke about the Healthy Homes & Lead Prevention Grant, which was passed at the Board of Aldermen  Working with the school district to help create a policy regarding bedbugs, which may be similar to the policy on lice  Lori Wilshire stated that it is expensive to get rid of bedbugs  Kerran stated that Environmental Health is giving out brochures which give advice on how to treat the home. Victoria Alabi  Working with MRSA workgroup o Jan Larmouth and Patty Crooker will be co-facilitating a presentation for the staff at the Hollis-Brookline High School  Working on radon educational posters with the environmental health department.  Will attend a Bed Bug Conference with Heidi Peek, “NH Bites Back” on Monday, November 21st.  Working with Ashley on a food borne illness outbreak protocol, to be included in our overall outbreak protocol tool box Dr. Storace: Questions: None Closed this part of the session Public Comments None Public session closed Motion to Adjourn by Dr. Storace Seconded by Dr. Klementowicz Formal Meeting Ended: 1:06 p.m. The next BOH Meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 14th, at 12:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted: Barbara A. Scacco Administrative Assistant II Public Health & Community Services 4