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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-10-23 Middlesex-Essex Public Health Collaborative Minutes Middlesex-Essex Public Health Collaborative Meeting Agenda Wednesday, October 23, 2024 at 2:00 pm Via Video Conferencing How to join the meeting: Join via computer or smartphone: Follow this link: meet.google.com/yxpTergk-xfr Join via telephone: 507-339-5878 PIN: 185 572 572# In Attendance: • Andover,Tom Carbone -Aye • North Andover, Brian La Grasse-Aye • Reading, Ade Solarin -Aye • North Reading, Pam Merrill -Absent • Haverhill, Bonnie Dufresne-Absent • Lynnfield, Coral Hope -Aye Also In attendance: • Annette Garcia, MEPHC Shared Services Coordinator • Lea Anne Pero, MEPHC Regional Public Health Nurse 1. Approval of 9/25/2024 Meeting Minutes Brian LaGrasse made a motion to approve the meetings minutes as presented. Motion seconded by Coral Hope. Vote:4-0 in favor.Approved unanimously 2. Regional Staff Updates a. Shared Services Coordinator i. Website 1. Spoke with the website vendor.They're apologetic for the delay and hope to have a website to review by the end of this week. 2. Once the draft is reviewed,it will be sent out to all local staff for feedback. ii. MHOA Conference 1. Deadline to register is Oct. 25 2. Most community staff are already registered through PHE. 3. If you're unsure about registration status, send Annette an e-mail. 4. We can support one hotel stay per community if you do not have a local budget for that. Please Annette know by the end of the day on Friday. iii. Mobile Food Permitting 1. Met with other SSA's today to discuss how they are approaching mobile food permitting 2. Next meeting, we plan to have a more in-depth discussion with the Advisory Board b. Public Health Nurse i. Has participated in 12 flu clinics with 2 more on the calendar 1. 555 people vaccinated across the clinics ii. Created health education for Breast Cancer awareness month. It was shared with PHNs for posting in communities. iii. Diabetes awareness month in November. Education materials will go out on social media. iv. Narcan Trainer of Training—January 22nd 1. Working on obtaining nursing CEUs for the class 2. There are still spots available. Sign up here. 3. If there are specific goals your department is hoping to achieve with this training, let Lea Anne know. 4. Currently all of the PHNs across the region are registered. c. Regional Inspector i. Shanene conducted 32 inspections during the month of October so far ii. Bob Bracey was out for about a month and coverage shifted a bit to assist in ensuring they had sufficient coverage. Bob returned today. iii. Shanene is currently in the MassPHIT food course which included three online and two in-person sessions iv. She will be attending the NEFDOA conference November 12 - 15 3. DISCUSSION: FDA Standard 3 a. The inspectional subcommittee group has been working on model policies to help communities meet FDA Standard 3. This standard aims to create an inspection program based on HACCP principles. b. There are five pieces of documentation needed to meet Standard 3 i. An inspection form that meets certain criteria 1. The Relavent form meets this portion ii. Documented risk assignment categories and inspection frequency based on risk eve iii. Written corrective action policy iv. Written variance request policy v. Written verification &validation of HACCP plan policy c. For communities wanting to meet Standard 3, your next steps are to review and adopt each of these policies. i. Annette is available to conduct a site visit to go over the policies, help with formal adoption with DPH Food protection program, and train employees ii. Annette is also available to help complete submission to FDA once complete d. If you would like to move forward with this for your community,a meeting sign-up will be sent with the meeting notes, or you can e-mail Annette directly to set up a meeting. e. Andover already has existing policies& risk levels. i. Annette will review the documents and incorporate changes to create consistency across the region while maintaining local procedures. f. Lynnfield is interested in applying for the track 3 grant i. Andover talked about applying for a track 2 grant,they are interested in investing local time ii. Reading& North Andover are interested iii. Coral and Annette are attending the FDA conference next week. They will investigate if the group is eligible to apply for the Track 3 grant. 1. This would allow the group to hire a coordinator for the FDA standards. g. Annette will set up a meeting after the FDA conference to discuss this opportunity. 4. DISCUSSION/VOTE: Health Communications Specialist Offer a. Since adopting the IMA,the advisory board must vote on all hiring actions b. We conducted four first round interviews for this position i. Amy Ewing, Ade Solarin, Tom Carbone, Mary O'Connell and Annette Garcia participated in these interviews c. We conducted three second-round interviews i. Tom Carbone, Brian LaGrasse and Annette Garcia participated in these interviews d. Tom Carbone asked who Annette Garcia would recommend. i. Annette recommended Chandini Paul.She was well spoken and thoughtful in her interviews. She comes with experience in local health departemtns and communication. Her writing and graphic samples provided were strong submissions. e. f. Tom Carbone made a motion to approve an offer to Chandini Paul. Brian LaGrasse seconded the motion. Vote:4-0 in favor.Approved unanimously. Annette will follow-upon reference checks and work with North Andover HR to extend an offer. 5. DISCUSSION/VOTE:Strategic Planning RFP a. Tom Carbone suggests listing out the MEPHC communities in the introduction paragraph. He also suggests adding in section D that the consultant will review the individual community capacity assessment responses. b. The changes were made as suggested. Brian LaGrasse made a motion to approve the RFP with the suggested edits. The motion was seconded by Coral Hope. Vote:4-0 in favor.Approved unanimously. Annette will work with North Andover purchasing officer to post the RFP. We will be looking for collaborative members to participate in the bid review process. 6. New Business a. Amy has been working on planning for opioid settlement funds in Andover and is wondering how other communities are planning to utilize funds. i. Brian plans to meet with the Assistant Town Manager soon to discuss spending. He is hoping to purchase SAMBoxes for the community. ii. Coral says they have purchased SAMBoxes. They have also hired a psychologist who is a licensed social worker. She works on the crisis intervention team to provide acute care and response while they work to find long-term programs and supports for individuals. 1. Lynnfield is working on a lot of prevention efforts such as addressing mental health concerns as they do not currently have high rates of substance use disorders. 2. They are holding wellness classes to promote mental heath and belonging. 3. They recently completed a six-week course with high-school age individuals to address mental health and stress management. 4. They hope to continue to utilize funds for more mental health education interventions for all ages and abilities. iii. The group hopes to continue this discussion in future meetings to see if there is a way to work across communities to amplify impact. iv. 7. Next Meeting: November 20 at 2:00 pm;virtual Motion to adjourn is made by Tom Carbone. Motion seconded by Brian LaGrasse. Vote:4-0 in favor. Meeting adjourned.