HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-04-01 Board of Health Minutes r^ J 11 CLERK
Town of Reading �. _ . "!!f:.
-� Meeting Minutes
221 MAY 18 AMID 45
Board - Committee - commission - council:
Board of Health
Date: 2021-04-01 Time: 7:00 PM
Building: Location:
Address: Session: Open Session
Purpose: Open Session - Remote Meeting Version: Final
Attendees: Members - Present:
Chair Richard Lopez, Vice Chair Kerry Dunnell; Associate Members: Geri
Cramer, Kevin Sexton
Members - Not Present:
Paula Curren
Others Present:
Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios, Interim Health Director Peter Mirandi,
Public Health Nurse Shuang Shen
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Jacquelyn LaVerde
Topics of Discussion:
This meeting was held remotely via Zoom.
Chair Richard Lopez called the meeting to order at 7:01pm and reviewed the evening's
agenda. Dr. Lopez also shared information he received from Ms. Dellos and Mr. Mirandi. In
order to have a meeting, there needs to be at least two members of the Board. If only one
member is present, the Chair can elevate an Associate to a Full member for quorum and
voting purposes, and should be the most senior Associate member in attendance. If that
occurs, the elevated Associate member automatically becomes a full member again
whenever the matter for which he/she was elevated comes back before the Board, unless
and until the other Board members vote to rescind that status. Tonight's meeting is not
impacted, as there is still a quorum without Ms. Curren in attendance, but Dr. Lopez noted
the rules for future meetings.
Public Comment:
There was no comment from the public.
Minutes;
On a motion by Dr. Lopez, and seconded by Ms. Dunnell, the Board of Health voted
2-0-0 to approve the meeting minutes of March 18, 2021.
Roll call vote: Kerry Dunnell-Yes, Richard Lopez-Yes.
Coalition Update:
Kevin Sexton shared highlights from yesterday's Coalition advisory meeting. The Coalition
is preparing to send out an annual behavior survey to Middle School and High School
students, which tries to assess what they feel are issues from substance abuse and whether
they abuse substances. A lot of questions on the survey this year are COVID related, and
about being alone or isolated. Results and data from the survey are expected toward the
end of May or early June, and will help guide the Coalition's focus and help them see any
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changes in patterns. The Board will ask Erica McNamara to preset the results at a meeting
in lune.
The Coalition is collaborating with Student Resource Officers to make an in-person
presentation about substance misuse in May.
Doc Wayne is a program that helps kids resolve their own Issues by working in group
environments and by learning how to handle different scenarios more productively. The
Coalition Is trying to get more buy-in from parents for this program, and is looking to
partner with the YMCA for the summer.
Monthly Health Division Report:
Mr. Mirandi provided a breakdown of the figures provided by Health Division staff.
Environmental:
• Food Permits: 42 new applications Issued in March, 135 YTD.
• Food Inspections: 26 conducted in March, 60 YTD.
• Other New Permits: 1 Body Art Practitioner issued In March, 3 YTD.
• Complaints: 4 complaints in March (2 animal, 2 COVID compliance), 18 YTD.
Dennis Palazzo is a new contract inspector working on plan reviews. He has reviewed three
out of four pending, and he is working on the fourth, as it is a new food establishment with
insufficient refrigeration. In the future, plans may be required to be submitted with the
stamp of a professional, as businesses seem to be relying too much on Town staff to help
design their operations.
Health Inspector Daniel Markman has registered to sit for the Registered Sanitarian
(RS)/Registered Environmental Health Specialist (RENS) exam through the National
Environmental Health Association (NEHA).
Mr. Mirandi noted that he is working with Permits Coordinator Kim Saunders to improve
electronic permitting for the Health Division.
Public Health Excellence Grant Proaram for Shared Services — Update on Progress•
Ms. Delios updated the Board on the progress of the Shared Services Grant. Following the
last meeting, the state clarified some questions regarding the grant's requirements, and a
minimum of three communities need to be involved. With Lynnfield's Select Board and
Board of Health already on board, another community was needed. Because Wilmington
already provides some help with septic to Reading and Lynnfield, it seemed logical to ask
Wilmington if they were interested.
Ms. Dellos was able to regroup and submit the grant application yesterday with the proposal
for Reading, Lynnfield, and Wilmington shared services. The request seeks $500,000 in
funding: $50,000 startup costs to setup an office; then $150,000 per year for three years to
add staffing for nursing, inspections, and other administrative and management resources
to support the three communities. The grant is expected to be awarded by May 1n.
The Board discussed the likelihood of being awarded the grant. Even If it is not awarded,
Lynnfield is still very interested in collaborating with Reading to pool Health resources. And
by submitting the application, it demonstrates to the state that the communities are
working together and may be eligible for future funding opportunities.
2021 Influenza Update — Public-Private Collaboration — Update on Proaress:
Ms. Delios explained that she had a conversation with a former BOH Chair, who is also a
pharmacist with a lot of contacts in the field, about the idea of collaborating with community
partners for flu clinics in the future. The former Chair said he would look Into the possibility
and get back in touch.
Ms. Shen noted that she received the reservation confirmation for 120 high-dose, 260
Flublok, and 180 regular influenza vaccines.
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Health Division Updates:
Status of Health Director Position Posting
Ms. Delios expressed concern that applying for the grant might affect the timing of the
posting for the Health Director position. The job description has been written, and the
position has been added to the Classification and Compensation Chart by the Select Board.
The question is whether the position will be Director for only Reading, or for the potential
region. She asked the Board whether the posting should be held until status of the grant is
known, or if it should be reworded to let applicants know about the regional possibility.
The Board agreed that the posting should not be delayed due to the pending grant
application. Even though the grant award is not guaranteed, the potential for a regional
director position could be a benefit and attract stronger candidates, and Lynnfeld is still
interested in a collaboration without the grant. Ms. Delios was asked to speak with the
Town Manager and Human Resources to convey the urgency the Board feels for getting the
position posted.
Status of Internal Analysis
Since last fall, the Board has had discussions about having a consultant perform an analysis
of the staffing and function of the Health Division. A Request for Proposals (RFP) was Issued
back in October, but only one proposal was received at a higher cost than was budgeted.
With the timing uncertainty in hiring the new Health Director, and the potential regional
grant program a factor, the Board questioned whether to continue to hold off on the
analysis.
Funds are available for the analysis, but need to be dedicated by June 30th. An option to
get some outside help without having to solicit another RFP would be through an interlocal
agreement, which would not be subject to M.G.L. Chapter 30B, with an organization such as
Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), who expressed interest in the initial RFP.
The Board discussed concerns about MAPC's limited expertise in Public Health, and
suggested that MAPC could subcontract a Public Health expert, with whom the Board is
comfortable, to assist with the work. MAPC could attend the next meeting to present their
approach, and discuss the scope of the analysis with the Board, Including subcontracting
with a Public Health expert.
The scope should still focus on what Reading needs, and if the Health Department is
expanding, it would be helpful to have the analysis and do it right.
Mr. Mirandi stated that he spoke with Mark Fine of the MAPC, who said he would be
available at 7:OOpm on April 15'^ to speak with the Board.
99VI2-19 Updates•
Case Count Updates
Mr. Mirandi presented the latest COVID data as of March 30th:
• Total Case Count: 1,770
• Active Cases: 74 + 12 new cases over the last two days
• Total Deaths: 49
• Transferred Cases: 10
• Recovered: 1,637
Cases in the region continue to rise, and there is concern about another surge due to the
new variants. The latest increase could be the result of St. Patrick's Day gatherings. Cases
could also continue to increase with upcoming Passover and Easter gatherings.
The Board briefly discussed the ongoing testing in schools. Pool testing has been extended
by the state through the end of the year, and seems to be detecting a lot of early cases.
The opt-in percentage for pool testing is relatively low despite efforts by the School
Department to obtain consent. The Board will consider If there is a way for them to
promote and support pool testing In the school community.
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COVID Vaccination Update
Ms. Shen provided an update on COVID vaccination clinics. There were three clinics held
last week. There were 81 individuals in affordable housing developments (44 at Frank
Tanner Drive, and 37 at Cedar Glen) who received first doses on Tuesday. A clinic was held
at the Pleasant Street Center on Friday where 89 Phase 2 eligible Reading residents
received their first dose. To date, there has been a cumulative total of 489 first doses and
280 second doses of Modema vaccine administered: 634 doses to regular administration, 81
doses to residents of affordable housing, and 54 doses to homebound individuals. There are
also two clinics scheduled for tomorrow at the Pleasant Street Center: the first one for
second doses for Reading residents who received their first dose on March 5t4, and the
second for the Council on Aging plan.
Since March 170, the Town has not received any more doses of vaccine. According to the
state, single doses should arrive next week for homebound Individuals. The state is
prioritizing allocating vaccines to retail pharmacy chains and federally qualified health
centers, and is trying to add 12 more federally run vaccination sites. Massachusetts has not
seen an increase in doses allocated from the federal government. If the federal government
Increases the allocation of doses in Massachusetts, the state will distribute doses to local
sites. There are 100,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine expected to arrive in
Massachusetts next week, though the state's allocation plan for them is not yet known.
Pertinent Incident Command Updates
Ms. Dunnell shared updates from last Monday's Command meeting. The discussion was
largely centered on schools reopening on the target date of April 5th. Athletics seem to be a
contributing factor in cases and required testing for athletes continues.
Command also discussed the homebound vaccination program and identifying those
individuals.
Ms. Dunnell also shared two COVID related topics. She commended individuals in the
community who have figured out the registration systems for pharmacies and are donating
their time to help others book vaccine appointments. Relative to the recovery and
community resilience piece of emergency preparedness, she also noted that the Library and
Cultural Council are accepting photos of things that brought people peace throughout the
pandemic. Photos can be submitted through June 4th by emailing them to
pandemicpeacephotos@gmall.com.
Civic/Recreation Permit Issues
Mr. Mirandi stated that permits have been going smoothly. Some applications were turned
away, including one for a road race. There was a little outbreak with the Scouts, but they
continue their gatherings with the COVID addendum in place. Overall, the new process with
review by the Recreation Administrator is going well.
Next Meetina Agenda Items, Final Comments:
The next Board of Health meeting is scheduled for April 15th. On the agenda will be a
presentation from MAPC, and an update on the Health Director job posting.
At some point, meetings may return to once a month. Scheduling will be determined by a
robust agenda, the amount of work that needs to happen, and decisions that need to be
made.
On a motion by Dr. Lopez and seconded by Ms. Donnell, the Board of health voted
2-0-0 to adjourn at 8:38pm.
Roll call vote: Kerry Dunnell-Yes, Richard Lopez-Yes.
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