Board of Health

City of Nashua Division of Public Health & Community Services 18 Mulberry Street, Nashua, NH 03060 BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING January 9, 2013 12:30 PM 18 Mulberry Street Nashua, NH 03062 MEETING MINUTES BOH Members Present: Dr. Anthony Storace Dr. Ajay Sharma Dr. Peter Klementowicz Staff Present: Kerran Vigroux, Patty Crooker, Ashley Conley, Heidi Peek, Christine Villeneuve, Beverly Doolan, Bob Mack, Barbara Scacco Formal Meeting called to order at 12:45 p.m. by Dr. Storace Kerran introduced Beverly Doolan, Program Coordinator, who will be working on the Community Health Improvement Plan. 1. Vote on acceptance of the December 2012 meeting Minutes: a. Motion by Dr. Storace to accept the December, 2012 Minutes b. Motion seconded by Dr. Sharma c. All in Favor: Aye 1  Department Reports Community Health – Presented by Christine Villeneuve  Immunization Program Highlights o Twelve high-risk cases of TB and one active case. o Follow-up immunizations and lead testing have continued for refugees that resettled here earlier.  Three of our refugees have relocated to Texas and one will be moving to Georgia. o Immunization clinics continue, and Shingles vaccine is still one of the most requested vaccines for seniors who are eligible to receive it.  STD/HIV Clinical Services o Adult immunization services are still be offered through Immunization Clinics at the Health Department. o The team is working on completing STD/HIV/HCV planning in anticipation of the opening of the STD/HIV/HCV clinics.  Lead/Healthy Homes Program Highlights o Lead screening continues to be offered at NCHD immunization clinics o Outreach worker is going to WIC clinic weekly to distribute Healthy Homes information and answer questions from parents about lead poisoning.  TB Program Highlights o NH DHHS reported INH shortage – delayed shipping but estimate supply will be available late January 2013. o The laminated New LTBI treatment guidelines are now available thru Global TB Institute in NH  Nashua Public Health Department received 180 copies to be distributed to all our Nashua Providers by January 2013.  Ashley spoke about Norovirus and steps that should be taken to help avoid spreading this virus o Frequent hand washing  People have become a little complacent about this. Health Education and Tobacco – Presented by Kerran Vigroux for Corinn Dembkoski  Health Education o Project Homeless Connect  On Tuesday, December 4th, the Division of Public Health and Community Services participated in Harbor Home’s Project Homeless Connect event.  We handed out Health information and provided immunizations. o HEAL  On Friday, December 7th, Corinn, Beverly and Kerran attended the HEAL Celebration meeting.  Tobacco o Attended Rivier University’s ATOD Taskforce meeting to address issues such as drugs and alcohol on campus.  The group members are interested in being a tobacco-free campus. Corinn has offered to take lead and help facilitate this process. o TPCP: Corinn is focusing work on system’s level changes around tobacco prevention and control, and has reached out to several organizations. She is working to build relationships with these organizations and help them consider smoke-free policies. 2 Environmental Health – Presented by Heidi Peek  Licenses o Twenty-one annual licenses were issued o One new license was issued. o Twenty annual licenses were renewed o Nine Temporary licenses were issued  Septic is ongoing  Staff attended a Communicable Disease/Epidemiology Training by NH DHHS with Community Health and Division Staff.  Amanda Hyde completed Principles of Epidemiology.  Heidi Peek completed ICS-400. Emergency Preparedness – Presented by Patty Crooker and Ashley Conley  Shelter Operations and Functional Needs Support Services Training (Boston): o The Epidemiologist attended a full day shelter operations training in Boston that focused on functional needs support for individuals during a disaster  Community Health Assessment with United Way of Greater Nashua o The Epidemiologist is on the Steering Committee for the United Way Community Assessment and will assist them with collecting health data that can be used for the report.  Infection Control Practitioners Work Group Meeting o The group will be starting a project with the Northeast Health Care Quality Foundation to reduce Clostridium difficile in healthcare settings this year; and in preparation, a guest speaker came to discuss the progress and lessons learned from various projects in Massachusetts.  Public Health Network Services Grant Alignment o The PHEP Coordinator has continued to collaborate with the Prevention Coalition Coordinator. An announcement regarding the PHNS grant alignment was drafted and is being sent out to partners of both programs early in January o Their goal is to find the most efficient and effective process to successfully align the programs and ensure that both programs’ services are not interrupted during the transition.  Technical Assistance Review with CDC o The NH Strategic National Stockpile Coordinator notified the PHEP Coordinator that the TAR review with the CDC is being postponed until February 20, 2013. The PHEP Coordinator is in the process of completing updates to the Regional Public Health Emergency Response Annex and affiliated attachments. Community Health Improvement Plan and Grants – Presented by Beverly Doolan  Met with both Access to Healthcare and Mental Health workgroups and assisted with plans for set up and marketing of regional and City community forums  Met with co-facilitators of Obesity workgroup and committed to assisting with their efforts more directly over the next few months as the group energizes for special Mayoral initiatives.  Working with Ashley to finalize a complete draft of the Community Health Improvement Plan, planned for the end of January publication.  Participated in the December Project Homeless Connect  Grants o Submitted a Letter of Inquiry to the NHN Foundation, NH’s major funder for initiatives focused on childhood obesity. We will be notified by January 4th if invited to proceed with full application. 3 Welfare - Bob Mack presented  Expense Figures for December 2012 are paid to date.  We assisted 12 families and 0 individuals in emergency shelter placements throughout December. o Welfare referred 6 families and 1 individual to public shelters/homeless outreach during the month of November  The Welfare Department was able to provide over 400 children with a variety of donations of toys and gift cards. We participated in Toys-for-Tots distribution, as well as distributing donations from other companies and organizations.  The Welfare Department has expended $292,344.67 for General Assistance in FY2013. Total expenditures are $75,962.45 less than this time last fiscal year calculating payments to date.  Dr. Storace: o Questions: None o Closed this part of the session  Public Comments o None o Public session closed Motion to Adjourn by Dr. Storace Seconded by Dr. Sharma All in favor: Aye Meeting Ended at 1:35 PM. In accordance with the 2013 BOH Meeting Schedule, the next BOH Meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 12:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted: Barbara A. Scacco Administrative Assistant II City of Nashua Division of Public Health & Community Services 4