Board of Health

City of Nashua Division of Public Health & Community Services 18 Mulberry Street, Nashua, NH 03060 BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING February 8, 2011 12:30 PM 18 Mulberry Street Nashua, NH 03062 MEETING MINUTES BOH Members Present: Dr. Anthony Storace, Dr. Ajay Sharma, Dr. Klementowicz Aldermen Present: Lori Wilshire Staff Present: Kerran Vigroux, Heidi Peek, Bob Mack, Victoria Alabi, Corinn Dembkoski, Nancy Seskes, Barbara Scacco Informational meeting called to order at 12:30 p.m. by Dr. Storace; formal meeting called to order at 12:40 p.m. 1. Vote on the January 11, 2012 meeting Minutes: a. Motion presented by Dr. Storace to approve the January 11, 2012 Minutes b. Motion seconded by Dr. Sharma 1  Department Reports Community Health – Presented by Nancy Seskes  We saw fewer communicable diseases this month  Jill is doing all investigations and reports them to the state  Norovirus has been very active, with several cases showing up in long term care facilities and assisted living establishments.  School health record audits continue  Lots of activity with STD/HIV o Two RFPs are due on Wednesday, February 15th o HIV Prevention - Safety Counts Program  Doing weekly outreach and recruitment actions  Cycle 3 begins next week and five members are signed up for that program  Lead Program Highlights o Healthy Homes Kick-Off  Awaiting contract signatures for the Grant o No new lead poisoning referrals received and no active cases o TB cases – nothing outstanding  Nurses have all attended Excel training and Environmental Health classes  We are involved with the Health Fair which will take place on March 21st Health Education and Tobacco – Presented by Corinn Dembkoski  Health Education o Assisting with CHIP and Healthy Homes o Working with Environmental Health on the Radon project o Community Spotlight  A video of what we do here at Public Health and the services we provide  This will appear on Channel 99 as well as on the City Website  Met with Mr. Gagnon , NHCCM, to discuss collaboration for EP, Tobacco and other health topics  Tobacco Prevention and Control o NACCHO/Tobacco Grant: CDC to host Tobacco Stakeholders Meeting  Four cities were chosen nationally.  Doing counseling work at Marguerite’s Place Environmental Health – Heidi Peek and Victoria Alabi presented  Heidi o Meredith Lyon’s position has been posted o Conducted lead paint – routine health inspections o Food sampling results are not included in this month’s report since we did not sample any restaurants this month. 2  o Food Inspection meeting attended by Howard  Talks covered issues, trainings and legislation dealing with food licenses o Changing the report format slightly o Bed bugs still continue to be an issue o Single bat that was sent to the State for testing was negative o Involved in Healthy Homes activities, including radon kit distribution o Working on Health Fair and Community Spotlight.  Victoria o Continuing to work on MRSA o Working with the Ledge Street School staff, Community Development and other stakeholders to develop a community garden at the school  Researching funding opportunities to support this initiative o CHIP  During January we completed our Mission Statement and Vision Statement  February’s meeting focused on health priorities as well as goals and objectives  Kerran and I met with a professor from UNH to review the capstone project and identify evidence based health improvement strategies.  Healthy Homes o Coordinated Nashua Region Health Homes Kick-Off meeting with the Division staff on January 30th at Southern NH Medical Center.  Approximately 50 attendees from various organizations throughout the City attended. Emergency Preparedness  Patty Crooker o Working with the CHIP Planning Group and attending ongoing meetings in order to finalize a vision and mission statement, as well as prioritize health issues. o Completing work on the CDC Technical Assistance Review (TAR) in preparation for the TAR Review in Concord on February 6th.  CDC requires all Cities Readiness Initiative funding recipients complete the TAR annually. o Participated and assisted with the Healthy Homes Program Kick-Off meeting on January 30th. Welfare - Bob Mack presented  Expenditures for sheltering and medication are significantly lower from the same time last year o We didn’t receive the monthly food or medication bill for January yet.  The number of contacts and applications went down somewhat in January, also.  Assistance was also a bit lower than normal. o We spiked in August, but since then it has decreased  We continue to connect clients to alternative resources whenever appropriate  Right now we have no one in motels o There are open shelter beds available at the Soup Kitchen o We’ve referred people there, but they don’t always go. 3   Alderman Wilshire asked about the drop in our numbers as compared to the Soup Kitchen’s increase in meals. o Discussions were held about possible causes for this anomaly.  Note: Previously, Social Security Income was not counted as income; however, starting in March it will be. This may have an impact on their qualification for assistance.  Discussions and questions: o Environmental: Food Sampling o Welfare: Decrease in numbers o Health: Norovirus o Environmental: Air quality issues o Alderman Wilshire congratulated everyone on the work being done with the CHIP. Dr. Storace: Questions: None Closed this part of the session Public Comments None Public session closed Motion to Adjourn by Dr. Sharma Seconded by Dr. Storace Formal Meeting Ended: 1:12 p.m. The next BOH Meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 12:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted: Barbara A. Scacco Administrative Assistant II City of Nashua Division of Public Health & Community Services 4