HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-06-25 Middlesex-Essex Public Health Collaborative Minutes i
Middlesex-Essex Public Health Collaborative
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday,June 25, 2024 at 10:00 am
North Andover Town Hall, Conference Room 2
120 Main St, North Andover, MA 01845
Roll Call:
• North Andover, Brian LaGrasse-Absent
• Andover,Tom Carbone- Present
• Reading,Ade Solarin - Present
• North Reading, Pam Merrill -Absent
• Lynnfield, Coral Hope- Present
• Haverhill, Mary Connolly—Absent
Also in attendance:
• Annette Garcia, Shared Services Coordinator, MEPHC—Present
• Lea Anne Pero, MEPHC- Present
1.Approval of 5/21/2024 Meeting Minutes
Motion made by Tom Carbone to approve meeting minutes as presented,
seconded by Coral Hope.
• Andover—Aye
• Lynnfield—Aye
• Reading—Aye
2. Updates from the Shared Staff
a. Shared Services Coordinator
i. IMA
• Annette and Brian met with DPH to discuss next steps
• They are investigating the possibility of purchasing an
additional insurance policy that would be paid through
the North Andover administration fee
• A meeting on July 8t"will take place with North Andover
Counsel to discuss
• Annette may schedule an emergency meeting if
significant progress is made
ii. FDA Standards
• All communities should have received their SA9&CSIP
• Next steps are for each community to approve the
SA9&CSIP and Annette will submit to FDA on their behalf
• Once a community has submitted,Annette will be
working to complete the self-assessment for Standard 1
which all communities are currently meeting
• The inspectional subcommittee is also working on
Standard 3
o Lynnfield has a lot of these policies and
procedures already written
o Annette will work with Coral to get copies
iii. Regional Website
• We are just waiting for North Andover to sign the
contract
• Annette& Lea Anne have been working on building out
website content
• Once the contract is signed,the website should be ready
in about two months
b. Public Health Nurse
• Lea Anne held a diabetes education event in Andover,
the audience was small but the presentation was well
received
• Lea Anne has been conducting monthly blood sugar
screenings in Lynnfield & blood pressure screenings in
Reading
• Lea Anne continues to develop and share monthly health
education materials
o June was tick safety
o July will be sun safety
• Lea Anne is looking to host a family health education
event in FY25
o Plans to bring together local resources like WIC,
social worker etc.for parents to engage with
while Lea Anne holds a health education event
for the kids
o If a community is interested in hosting the pilot,
please reach out to Annette or Lea Anne
3. PRESENTATION: Regional Vaccination Plan
• Lea Anne has been meeting monthly with the local public health nurses
to discuss vaccine for children (VFC) and regional adult vaccination plans
• Lea Anne provided a presentation on the proposed plan which includes
all member communities referring eligible children to Haverhill to obtain
their required childhood vaccinations
• The workgroup identified significant challenges in regionalizing an
approach to seasonal adult vaccinations
o At this time, it is not recommended to regionalize the approach,
but Lea Anne has connected communities with similar current
practices to share information
• There is still a need to provide vaccinations for the uninsured and
underinsured, however, there are difficulties funding these opportunities
• The region will continue to investigate opportunities to utilize regional
resources and sharing capacity to support vaccinations for key
populations
4. PRESENTATION: FY 24 Report
• Annette provided a presentation on FY24 achievements and challenges
• Successes:
o Hired a shared services coordinator and public health nurse
o Conducted 50 inspections across all municipalities despite having
a vacant health inspector position for 8 months
o Developed standard operating procures for staff sharing, noise
complaint investigation and onboarding
• Challenges
o There have been challenges executing the inter-municipal
agreement which has delayed different aspects of the workplan
o Staff turn-over and difficulty hiring resulted in lower than
inspection vaccination clinic and inspection support
o Staff turn-over and difficulty hiring resulted in underspending
5. FY25 Meeting Schedule
• FY25 meeting schedule provided
• Annette will send out invites