2022-02-03 Board of Health Minutes

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the Reading population. They also reviewed the Special Commission recommendations including: Public Health standards, data collection and reporting, foundation of Public Health Services framework, and recommended staffing and credentials. Based on this, they presented their foundational health services assessment of Reading and Identified the top priorities for Town officials. Following the review, Mr. Fine shared the recommendations including: hire an experienced sanitarian, hire a dedicated full-time Health experienced administrative staff member, maximize permitting/complaint software, amend the Town Charter to change the Board of Health from three voting members to five voting members, create a Public Safety leaders group, conduct a community needs assessment, seek out regional partnerships, create a staff development plan, build strong relationships with other health directors in neighboring towns, provide emergency preparedness and incident command training to Health staff, encourage staff to join and participate in professional organizations, find ways to engage with residents, develop an annual community strategy, and provide cultural competency training for staff. For next steps, MAPC will draft the final report and submit it to the Board for review and comment, and come back to visit the Board at the April meeting with the final product for discussion. Reaama c auoon upaare: Mr. Sexton stated that the coalition met last week and proceeded to summarize some highlights. The Coalition has spent a lot of time at the High School for Teen Mental Health. A majority of students were experiencing mental health Issues, or knew someone who was. The Police Department still does not have a hire for the Clinician position. There is one promising resume, and they are trying to promote the position. The Coalition has to pause with William lames College Referral Services for three weeks beginning on January 31, 2022 because the service Is so inundated with calls. There is information on the Coalition website to seek out referrals until the service resumes on February 22, 2022. Health Department Monthly Report: Mr. Solarin provided a general overview of Health Department activities from the past month. There were five complaint investigations, one reinspection, one food plan review, and one well construction review. Permit renewals are ongoing, the online permit software Is working, and there are only four outstanding permits, with two applicants expected to renew by the end of the week. The department Is exploring whether to charge a late fee for each outstanding permit. If that does not work, then the establishments can come before the Board to discuss why their health permit should not be revoked. The new Health Inspector has accepted the position and is scheduled to start Tuesday, February 22, 2022. A regional COVID testing site has been secured in collaboration with Andover, Haverhill, Lynnfield, Methuen, Lawrence, North Reading, North Andover, and Wilmington, at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington. COVID test clinics will run six days a week from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm beginning on February 16th. Residents, businesses, and schools from each community will be able to use the testing clinics. Further details will be posted on the website when they are available. Currently, the Town is 75% fully vaccinated and 50% boosted. The department has ramped up vaccination efforts in conjunction with Police and Fire. Over the past five weeks, eight clinics have been conducted. Homebound vaccination clinics started today. Page 1 2