Board of Health

City of Nashua Division of Public Health & Community Services 18 Mulberry Street, Nashua, NH 03060 BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING December 9, 2015 12:30 PM 18 Mulberry Street, 2nd floor Nashua, NH 03060 MEETING MINUTES BOH Members Present: Dr. Anthony Storace, Chair Dr. Thomas Astolfi Dr. Charles Cappetta Board members were given an agenda, and copies of the department reports. Meeting was called to order by Dr. Storace at 12:38pm. Minutes: Dr. Cappetta made a motion to accept September, 2015 minutes, Dr. Astolfi seconded the motion. Unanimous passage. Reports Department Managers and Program Coordinators summarized their reports for the month of November, 2015. Public Health Network Services – Patty Crooker Patty announced that Ashley Conley, our Epidemiologist, has taken a new position as the Infection Control Preventionist at St. Joseph Hospital. Dr. Storace would like it noted in the minutes that the Board thanks Ashley for her years of service and wishes her the best of luck. Substance Misuse Prevention – Lisa Vasquez Lisa attended the National Prevention Network Conference in Seattle. She was the only participant from New Hampshire. Lisa also shared the recently completed Heroin Issue Brief which was shared with the PHAC members as well as all of the Substance Misuse Prevention Partners in the region. Lisa informed the BOH about recent actions of DPHCS in addressing the issue of heroin use in the GNPHR, which have included the facilitation of the Mayor’s Fall Summit meeting in October 2015 that brought together state and local leaders to identify a community response to this issue. BOH members and DPHCS staff 1 engaged in a discussion about heroin use in the GNPHR that included review of the data analysis in the issue brief. Dr. Astolfi mentioned that the State has passed rules regarding the prescription of opioids. Dr. Storace requested that we share AMR/Nashua Fire Rescue overdose data with the BOH. Patty added that the staff are assisting with a Naloxone training on Dec. 15th and will assist with the coordination of an additional training for Lamprey, as the first was successful with 54 kits distributed. Dr. Cappetta requested additional copies of the Heroin Issue Brief. Community Education Kerran announced that Melissa has taken a position with the Community Health Institute in Box. The Board would like to wish her well in her endeavors and thank her for her service to the community. Program Coordinator/CHIP Accreditation Coordinator, Beverly Doolan, shared the 2015-2018 CHIP and Summary report that was recently completed. Beverly also explained to BOH members that DPHCS seeks to engage BOH leadership, along with all levels of internal staff, in the development of a performance management system that will use data to improve DPHCS effectiveness. Development of a written plan has been initiated but there is more work to be done. She reviewed the public health performance management system framework and referenced the October 2015 Pathways to Excellence newsletter, focused on the topic of performance management, that was included in BOH packets for this meeting. Community Health Community Health Manager, Jackie Aguilar, reported that all public schools have now completed their flu clinics with around 1,400 students receiving vaccination. She would like to approach the private schools to have them added next year to the schedule. Dr. Storace offered to write a letter to the Private schools on our behalf to help to promote the program. She reported that it was National Immunization Week and that the Community Health Department has begun Immunization clinics at the Nashua Public Library twice/month. The staff participated in their quarterly review with the State Department of Health and Human Services for the Immunization program. The state is pleased with the effectiveness of the program and the vaccine rates for our region. Environmental Health Heidi Peek, the Environmental Health Manager, reported that in October, they needed to suspend the Food Service License of Agave Azul. They have been working closely with them to designate management positions. They have also repeated educational sessions, and are now re-open and doing better. Their last inspection was the morning of the Board of Health meeting 12/9/15 and they did well. Septic work is increasing for the department as contractors work to break ground before the winter. The department has been busy with the Holiday Stroll preparations. This year there will be an After Action Report and Environmental Health will participate. 2 Rene Beaudoin, Environmental Health Laboratory Director, gave an overview on the seasonal focus on pools and spas. They have also implemented a change in the Food Sampling program. They have switched to a risk-based focus for selecting food samples. Four samples are delivered to the State Public Health Lab each month. The Risk-based approached is yielding positive results with several samples being positive for fecal coliform. This may be due to lack of hand washing. As a result, establishments have installed new sinks and have undergone education provided by the Environmental Health staff. Rene has been approved as the Deputy Health Officer by the State DHHS. Welfare Welfare Department Manager, Bob Mack, discussed the Welfare activities for November. There has been a significant increase in shelter costs as 29 homeless households were assisted with housing this November, compared to 19 last November. The staff are working on further developing the Coordinated Entry System; a resource for homeless assistance. Director’s Report Division Director, Kerran Vigroux, reported on the process for the contract with The Architects to create floor plans and an RFP for our future building. Kerran and Lisa met with Mayor-elect Donchess to discuss division programs, department and to highlight the work of the Substance Misuse Prevention program. Kerran also informed the Board of the work that the staff have been doing in conjunction with Community Development, Fire and Police to provide information to the Substandard Living Conditions committee established by the Board of Aldermen. Prior to the meeting, Kerran contacted each member and asked if they were interested in renewing their term of service which would be expiring on December 31, 2015. All members confirmed during the meeting that they would be willing and pleased to serve another two years as Board of Health Members. Public Comments None Dr. Astolfi made a motion to adjourn. Dr. Cappetta seconded the motion. The motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 1:30 pm. The next meeting will be on January 13, 2015. 3