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BOARD OF HEALTH
Stanley L. Rosen, CHO, Chairman
Andrew Stead, Vice-Chairman
Susan Peck
Jay S. Schwab, DMD
Edward Welch
Linda Rosen, Health Administrator
Board of Health staff in 2009 consisted of: Jim Andrews: Health Agent for Engineering; Sheila Miller, RNC: Public Health Nurse (PHN) and Assistant Health Agent for Sanitary Inspections and Enforcement; Edwin S. Little, Animal Inspector; Linda Rosen: Health Administrator; and Linda Callan: Part-Time Administrative Assistant. In July 2009, the Board of Health voted to appoint William Iannucci to the part-time consultant position of Health Agent for Sanitary Inspections and Enforcement, formerly held by Jack Lapuck...who served the town well for almost 4 decades.
(Please see the Engineering Division section of this Annual Town Report for specific information on services of the Health Agent for Engineering on behalf of the Board of Health.)
The Board of Health is comprised of five volunteer members, listed above, who are appointed to three year terms by the Selectmen. The major work of the Board in 2009 involved providing for the protection of public health, safety, welfare, and the environment, through appropriate review of
septic system upgrades and variance requests, as well as of other areas.
Some accomplishments of the Board in 2009 included:
- Continued to review proposed septic system upgrades, and variances from state and town septic regulations, including the installation of a variety of Innovative/Alternative (I/A) systems. The Board continued to impose standard requirements for homeowners with alternative systems including provision of a signed Operations and Management Agreement to the Board, with the following testing requirements: BOD, TSS, pH, TKN, Ammonia, and Nitrites. In addition, the Board continued to require a standard septic system use restriction document to be filed at the Registry of Deeds by all homeowners to whom a variance with restrictions is issued.
- Completed a comprehensive review and updating of the Board of Health Animal Regulations.
- Held hearings to review several new applications for animal permits, relying on recommendations of the Animal Inspector;
- With assistance of consultant Marie Cannon, P.E., completed review and approval of proposed Residences at Sharon Commons (40R application);
- Approved a shelter-type structure for the farmstand of Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary;
- Approved the proposal of the PHN to provide Zostavax (Shingles) vaccine to residents over age 60....with requirement of pre-payment and provision of physician's order;
- Continued to receive updates from staff on emergency planning activities, including H1N1 influenza-related activities; Also approved proposal by PHN to provide live seasonal intranasal vaccine to residents age 5 and up during the fall of 2009;
- Met numerous times with representatives of Shaws' Plaza to discuss and resolve issues related to the septic system. By year's end it appeared that most problems were resolving successfully;
- Approved proposal by new owners of Coriander Restaurant to open a "high-end grocery store" at the former Sharon Mart location;
- Approved a well variance for a property on Bay Road...with standard requirements including the same watering restrictions as the rest of the town;
- Met with the Chief Investigator of the MA Division of Professional Licensure and, following lengthy discussion and explanations, revoked the funeral director license which had been issued to Mark Farley for the Keating Funeral Home;
In accordance with state requirements for bathing beaches, and semi-public pools, the Health Department oversaw laboratory testing of all semi-public swimming pools and Lake Massapoag swimming areas (and non-swimming areas) from late May to September to monitor for bacterial levels (E-Coli for lake areas; fecal coliform for pools).
Compliance with 310CMR 15.000 (1995 Title 5, as well as with Article 7 of the Board of Health Regulations (regarding septic systems) and Article l6 of the Board of Health Regulations (regarding private wells) was monitored by the Health Agent for Engineering. (Please see the “Engineering Division” section for additional information.)
As more alternative septic systems have been installed, and as variances from the town’s septic regulations have been required for replacement systems, monitoring compliance with conditions imposed by the Board of Health has become more complicated and time-consuming. In the interest of protecting these systems, the town’s groundwater, as well as the public health, the Department monitors owners’ compliance with conditions of septic variances through the use of funds raised by an annual monitoring fee paid by system owners. Hundreds of permits and licenses were issued by the Board of Health during 2009, including the following: keeping of animals; permit to operate a manicuring salon providing artificial nail services; caterers; manufacture and/or sale of ice cream; sale of
milk and/or cream; vehicle licenses for sale of milk; lodging houses; pasteurization of milk; motels; camps; operation of retail food establishments; food service establishments; combination retail food/food service establishments; residential kitchens; semi-public pools; funeral director; seasonal food service; seasonal mobile food vendors; transportation of offal; dumpster operations; portable toilets; and retail tobacco sales. The Board is also responsible for issuing 5 year renewal permits for underground storage of hazardous materials and regulated substances.
A Special Service Board, administered by the Health Department, is responsible for determining the eligibility of senior citizens and disabled persons (based upon income) for town-sponsored refuse collection. Thirty-four residents were approved for this service as of the end of 2009. The Department continued to maintain the Board of Health/Health Department pages on the town’s website, providing up-to-date information to the public. Responsibilities of the Health Agent for Sanitary Inspections and Enforcement, and the Assistant Health Agent for Sanitary Inspections and Enforcement in 2009 included the following: Routine and other inspections of all food service and retail food service establishments, catering facilities, etc., to ensure compliance with the revised, strengthened State Sanitary
Code and FDA Food Code. Also: inspections of lodging house and motel facilities, as well as reviews of proposed new establishments and changes to existing facilities took place. Also conducted were sanitation audits of school cafeteria food service practices throughout the school year; inspection of retail establishments selling tobacco products, as well as restaurants, motels, and lodging houses for compliance with the Board of Health Tobacco Regulation. Pre-season and mid-season inspections of all camps were conducted to ensure continuation of proper sanitation standards in conformance with increasingly stringent state-wide regulations.
PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING
PHN: Sheila Miller, RNC
The Public Health Nursing Service of the Sharon Board of Health provided services to residents of the town as follows in 2009:
Total # Office Visits 1931
Total # Home Visits 167
Monthly offsite blood pressure/blood sugar clinics 311
Immunizations (other than influenza) 405
CLINICS PROVIDED (Various Locations - Out of Office):
Flu Immunization Clinics 4100
(including seasonal flu, H1N1 influenza, and seasonal Flumist)
Sheila Miller, RNC, continues in the position of PHN for the town. Linda Beadle, Nurse Practitioner, provides assistance on an ongoing basis as our part-time PHN. Additionally, the Department relies on several on-call Registered Nurses to assist with clinics, on an as-needed basis. In the fall of 2009 these nurses played a huge role in keeping the department functioning smoothly during Sheila Miller's medical absence.....particularly during the extremely challenging influenza vaccination season.
The Department provides regularly scheduled blood pressure/blood sugar clinics for all adult residents, as well as monthly senior citizen clinics. In addition, immunizations, nutrition and weight control education, and monthly home visits (as needed) are conducted. The Nursing Department is actively involved with the School Department Nursing Staff, sharing information regarding immunizations and communicable diseases. The PHN also assists with immunizations, as needed, for campers and staff. Coordination with the Council on Aging, area Visiting Nurse Associations, HESSCO, as well as other town departments continues on an ongoing basis. The PHN, as well as the part-time PHN, continued to follow up on communicable disease cases reported to the Department. Town employee health screenings
were again held, with positive responses from all departments. Sheila Miller provided various health lectures to employees in conjunction with Blue-Cross, Blue Shield. A medical waste disposal program for residents was again provided at the Health Department office in Town Hall in June. The Department also provided a mercury thermometer exchange program, in cooperation with the Department of Public Works. In addition, arrangements made in collaboration with Sturdy Hospital and the Fire Department allow for disposal of sharps at the Fire Department on an ongoing basis.
As part of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) Emergency Preparedness Region 4A, Department staff continued to participate in seminars and workshops on bioterrorism; worked closely with the state Department of Public Health, as well as with both Fire and Police Departments; provided informational materials on bioterrorism to the public, and directed residents to the appropriate agencies for further details. Sheila Miller is part of an ongoing Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) for the town, with Linda Rosen as the alternate for the Department. Through Region 4A and DPH we received information and support during the development stage of the H1N1 influenza pandemic, as well as funding to assist us to provide H1N1 immunizations.
Sheila Miller has been heavily involved with the organization of a Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). This volunteer group serves to strengthen the public health infrastructure and improve emergency preparedness. To date,
approximately one hundred volunteers, both medical professionals and others, serve on the MRC. Many of these volunteers assisted with our flu clinics.
The annual influenza vaccination program was complicated in 2009 by the identification in the spring of the H1N1 strain of Influenza A...which rapidly became a pandemic. Between October 1st and December 29th the Health Department organized and conducted several large flu clinics, as well as multiple small clinics targeted, in accordance with CDC and DPH guidelines, to reach various high-risk groups ...for both seasonal influenza vaccine and H1N1 influenza. In total, approximately 4100 doses of influenza vaccine (both seasonal and H1N1) were provided to residents ...more than double those of a typical year. This represented a huge challenge and couldn't have been accomplished without the assistance of so many: our staff ..both regular and on-call; members of the Lions' Club, Civil Defense, LEPC and MRC, and many other volunteers and workers. We bill Medicare and Medicare HMO’s for administration of the seasonal flu vaccine for those over 65 and are thereby able to recoup some
of the costs involved in providing this service. We are also grateful for all donations we receive.
The Department, in conjunction with the Fire Department, continued the popular Vial of Life program, giving residents the opportunity to confidentially register important personal data in order to provide emergency responders with vital and possibly life-saving information.
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