Board of Health

CITY OF SALEM BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING MINUTES November 12, 2019 MEMBERS PRESENT: Dr. Jeremy Schiller, Paul Kirby, Geraldine Yuhas, Datanis Elias, Sara Moore OTHERS PRESENT: David Greenbaum, Health Agent, Suzanne Darmody, Public Health Nurse, Maureen Davis, Clerk of the Board, Beth Gerard, City Council Liaison, Joyce Redford, Director of NSCATAPP, Laura Assade, Advisor for the Salem Youth Commission with members of the Salem Youth Commission, Patti and Lindsay Morsillo, League of Women Voters, SSU student (observing the meeting) TOPIC DISCUSSION/ACTION 1. Call to Order 7:02pm P. Kirby motioned to take items out of order. J. Schiller 2nd. All in favor. Motion passed. 2. Discussion of Body Art Regulation D. Greenbaum updated the Board that NEHA put out model body art regulations in October. He feels we should put it out to industry for review and create an industry committee. He will send the Board both a copy of our current regulation and the model regulation for comparison. 3. Discussion of Strategic Planning D. Greenbaum said he met with the Mayor and had his goal meeting as a and Goal Setting department head. He wanted to bring it to the Board to discuss what the Board’s goals are. What do we see as the most pressing needs in the community? The Mayor is looking at a lot of health and wellness initiatives, so he feels that is what the Board should look at. We can look at the community health assessment and work together to try to make a positive impact on the community. J. Schiller agrees with the Mayor and said we should have specific items for the Board to work on. We should have annual goals in order to be more effective. S. Moore asked where the health assessment can be accessed. D. Greenbaum said it is available on the hospital’s website, but he also has it and will send it to the Board. P. Kirby thought it would be good to engage the Mayor directly to shape priorities. J. Schiller agreed that the Mayor should be involved in the discussion. He asked if the plans and goals would be in the form of grants or measures or initiatives. D. Greenbaum said it will be a combination of both funding and reaching milestones. He said, for example, Kerry Murphy is doing a ton of work for the food farm at Mack Park and is applying for grants, etc. She is also a personal trainer and is looking at possibly setting up a youth bootcamp to help fight childhood obesity. G. Yuhas asked S. Darmody about the mothers and babies’ program. S. Darmody said it really is a mom-focused visit and is for continuity of care outside of doctor’s office visits. The visits are two hours and there is a follow-up call after the visit. It also helps to connect the moms with resources. There is no requirement or risk factors involved. Anyone with a child under one year is eligible.  J. Schiller said partnering with the hospital is a huge resource. D. Greenbaum said that door is open and he has been having lots of conversations with Tina McLaughlin from the community benefits department at the hospital about how they can help us and how we can help them. He said the Mayor is looking into a possible Juul buyback program. 4. Salem Youth Commission - L. Assade said the Mayor asked her to re-establish the Salem Youth Discussion of Tobacco Flavor Ban Commission, which used to be made up of all adults and no youth. She is one of three advisors for the Salem Youth Commission. Any young person between the ages of 14-21 who lives in Salem is eligible to be a part of the Commission. After the age of 21, members are eligible to apply to be an advisor. She read aloud the Commission’s mission statement and said the students are given opportunities for public speaking and they also become the voice of youth in the City. She said they were there to speak on behalf of all young people in the community with their issue against vaping products and in adding additional legislation to restrict the sale of mint and menthol. They have been training for over a year. Student members again held signs opposing Juul and its practices. Several students spoke very passionately about issues related to vaping. They explained they are all members of The 84, which is a state-wide youth tobacco prevention movement that aims to make Massachusetts healthier. The students reported that people of color and low-income areas are targeted by the tobacco industry and said there is more tobacco advertising in disadvantaged neighborhoods. The tobacco companies even give out samples of their tobacco products in those areas. They spoke about educating people about what the tobacco companies are doing to get people addicted. They noted the many vaping illnesses and deaths. They said that unfortunately vaping is considered trendy and something students can bond with their peers over. Big tobacco companies have explicitly stated that their business survives on high school-aged students. Mint and menthol are the most popular flavors being discarded at school. They urged the Board to prohibit the sale of mint and menthol not only in vapes, but in all cigarettes and cigars as well, even in adult-only stores. They said the tobacco industry’s sole purpose is to addict and harm young people and something must be done. The Board should do what they can to try to prevent deaths before they occur. The students said when walking around Salem they notice many tobacco ads in the convenience stores. L. Assade said they have a grant to work on a mapping project for retailers downtown and are working with J. Redford from NSCATAPP. The Youth Commission members are being trained. She said she hopes the Board takes the actions of the Salem Youth Commission into consideration to change legislation and they would love to partner with us for change. P. Kirby asked Youth Commission members if they see any positive changes for their efforts to bring attention to this issue. The students said no because they feel the mindset is “temporary” due to the ban. Some students are going to New Hampshire, buying a ton of vapes and selling them for a higher price, especially to lower classmen. One of the members reported that he knows of 5th-graders vaping. They feel that punishment is not the answer. Students need help because they are addicted and no one seems to understand the severity of addiction.  The cheap price makes it easily accessible. Students can purchase a 2-pack for $10.00. If the price was higher it would be harder for students to get. They report the Juuls are small and easy to hide. It smells like candy and they can smell that students are vaping in the bathrooms at school. Some students are now even selling a “hit” of their Juul, so now they are sharing. J. Redford said sharing causes other health problems, such as mono, etc. S. Moore said social media quickly spreads information of availability. J. Schiller asked for updates of municipalities who have banned flavors. J. Redford distributed a list of such. She reported that 161 communities have flavor restrictions and so far, 18 have included mint, menthol and wintergreen. She said Cumberland Farms filed a law suit. There is a bill in State that they will be voting on Wednesday that would remove all flavors and would include adult-only establishments. J. Schiller noted all 18 municipalities that banned mint, menthol and wintergreen have done so within the past 11 months. J. Redford said price matters in public health. It is cheaper to buy tobacco in NH because MA has an excise tax of over $3.00. She reported that the AG’s office is trying to monitor online sales. Younger youth don’t realize they are addicted. They think they need the tobacco to relax, not realizing that their anxiety is actually a symptom of withdrawal. She suggested the Board could consider a slow reduction of caps for the number of tobacco stores. She will send copies of models and will highlight the pertinent information. She told the Board that, after much prodding from her, training with Busa is set for 11/24/19. There should be 8-10 employees for the training. She will be present at our 12/10/19 meeting when we will consider reinstatement of their tobacco license. 5. Approval of Minutes S. Moore motioned to approve the minutes. P. Kirby 2nd. All in favor. (October 7, 2019) Motion passed. 6. Chairperson Communications J. Schiller said he would love to have Kerry Murphy at a meeting soon to update the Board on her many programs. It will be nice to see her, too! 7. Monthly Reports-Updates a. Public Health S. Darmody reported in addition to the employee flu clinic, she also held Nurse’s Report flu clinics for police, fire, DPS and at the CLC. J. Schiller asked if there were any updates on legionnaires. D. Greenbaum said there were three cases total from 9/27 to 10/19. Pequot has remediated the problem and are updating their treatment systems. The owners of Pequot were great to work with. Copy available at the BOH office. b. Health Agent’s Report D. Greenbaum reported in the spring we should be getting new permitting software, called ViewPoint Cloud. The system will run in real time and inspectors will use tablets in the field. He updated on 36 Loring Avenue saying the judge did a site visit last Wednesday and he is waiting for the judge’s decision. This issue has been going on for 10 years. The owner feels he can do whatever he wants, which is not the case. He reported that Household Hazardous Waste Day went very well. We had  a total of 162 cars. He will be holding a recycling event for businesses on 11/19/19. Recycling Works will be present and will provide additional resource information. He attended a presentation about gun violence with a public health approach given by the League of Women Voters. He spoke to them about possibly attending the farmers’ market. Copy available at the BOH office. c. Administrative Report Copy available at the BOH office. d. Council Liaison Updates B. Gerard thinks the urban farm idea at Mack Park is phenomenal! Accessory dwelling units did not pass. We still have housing issues. B. Gerard reminded the Board that she has only 49 days left as our liaison. J. Schiller asked how the City Council Liaison is chosen. B. Gerard said the City Clerk sends notices to all councilors about all the boards and committees available for them to serve as liaison and the coucilors choose what they want to do. P. Kirby motioned to approve the reports. G. Yuhas 2nd. All in favor. Motion passed. 8. Discussion of Health Agent Formal D. Greenbaum said there is a provision for formal evaluations, but it is not Evaluation being used. J. Schiller said D. Greenbaum is doing an awesome job and the Board is lucky to have him. D. Elias agreed. She distributed an evaluation sheet she put together that goes along with the Health Agent job description. We could address any issues as they come up to resolve them and avoid a problem. The evaluation is not meant to be punitive. D. Greenbaum suggested the Board could form a committee of no more than two to gather information and communicate their results to the other members. D. Elias said we should reach out to legal about the open meeting law. D. Greenbaum said he will reach out to HR about it, too. 9. New Business/Scheduling of Future - Revisit discussion of the Health Agent formal evaluation Agenda Items MEETING ADJOURNED: P. Kirby motioned to adjourn. S. Moore 2nd. All in favor. Motion passed. 8:41pm Respectfully submitted, Maureen Davis Clerk of the Board Next regularly scheduled meeting is Tuesday, December 10, 2019 at 7:00pm At City Hall Annex, 98 Washington Street, 1st Floor, Salem, MA