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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1986-01-28503 BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING JANUARY 28, 1986 The monthly meeting of the Board of Health was held Tuesday, January 28, 1986 at 7:15 p.m. in Room G-15 of the Town Office Building. Members present were: Mr. James W. Lambie, Chairman; Dr. Donald Goldmann, Dr. Howard B. Asar- kof, Mr. George A. Smith, Jr., Health Director, and Miss Jacqueline Selway, Health Sanitarian. Jacqueline gave her report to the members of the Board. She has been SANITARIAN'S doing quite a few routine inspections at the retail food/restaurant REPORT places. We had received a complaint from a patron of Dunkin Donuts that they had a bowl of chicken soup and it had worms in it. It turned out to be only pieces of veins from the chicken. Jacqy is preparing articles for the February issue of the "Food Facts" that is put together two or three times a year by the Health Director. She is planning something on food sanitation, the new regulations of the state, plus several other articles. She is also revising town's sanitation stand- ards regarding food personnel, food temperatures and bacterial hazards. Mr. Smith told the Board that he filed a complaint in Concord District 79 CLIFFE AVE. Court against the owners of property at 79 Cliffe Avenue. The owners live MALFUNCTIONING in Danvers and rents out the property. CESSPOOL Mr. Smith said the cesspool is malfunctioning and the owners of the property said they would take care of the problem and then took off for Fla. Nothing has been done to the system so Mr. Smith filed a complaint in the Concord Court against the owner. Pumping will not help relieve this system. The clerk/magistrate has given the owner until February 12 to file and GSX PERSONNEL pay his fees to connect to the town sewer. ILLNESS The GSX rubbish truck employees took ill one early evening while work- ing on one of their routes. The truck had been then taken to the landfill so that the D.E.Q.E., Health Dept., and Public Works employees and the GSX could check out what was causing the personnel to become ill. Nothing has been found up to now to cause this but checking through the trash kidney dialyses filters were found to have been thrown away. This type of thing is not suppose to be thrown into the trash. Anything with blood should be autoclaved. The trash company will refuse to collect in the area if anymore kidney filters are found in the trash. At 7:30 p.m. Mrs. Jayne Tapia, R.N., Executive Director of the Visiting Nurses, Glenda Green, R.N. and Ilene White, R.N. came before the Board at the Board's request. V.N.A. APP'T. Mr. Lambie told the nurses that the Board has not been able to get a clear picture of the Visiting Nurses work, who they service for the Board of Health, how they get their clients, etc. Public money is being used for pri- vate patients. He stated that is not a public health function but falls into the welfare area. Mr. Lambie said we should not be paying out money to the V.N.A. for private patients. 504 -2- Mrs. Tapia spoke next and said she had called around to the different towns to see how they function with the nursing duties. Some offer health promotion, others do not. The nurses discussed what they felt were the needs of their patients and the Board discussed what they feel are the Board of Health duties and responsi- bilities are as far as paying for V.N.A. patients are concerned. Dr. Goldmann feels the whole program should be more structured and it certainly could not be defended to the Appropriations Committee as it is now being conducted and the Board said they cannot find out from the nurses what and how the program is run. The Board feels the whole program should be reviewed in depth Glenda Green, R.N. questioned the Board about their decision to cut health promotion visits, wants to know who will pay for home flu injections, high risk babies, home evaluations, etc. The Board said if people are financial able, have a health insurance, it certainly is not the Board of Health's function to pay for these visits. We are not a welfare agency. Anyone not able to pay should check with Medicaid and see what they will do. Mr. Smith said the Board of Health's function is for flu clinics, premature babies, etc. He said the Visiting Nurses program originally was before people had insurance to cover their illnesses when people were not able to afford the help. After some discussion Mrs. Tapia, R.N. was questioned about the method used in determining who would become a client under the Board of Health Program. It finally was discussed and the nurses said they "DO NOT" conduct a means test such as Minute Man Home Care or other agencies and NEVER question if a person can pay themselves for the visit by the Visiting Nurses. Dr. Goldmann told the nurses to go to any home they want to but do notbill the Board of Health for the visits. He told them to provide a systematic plan to take care of the needy. The Board told the nurses not to add any new health promotions to their list of clients. They want this type of visit stopped. They said any Housing authority referrals should come to the Board of Health before anything is done and if they have areas that are questionalbe about pay- ment, visits, etc. notify the Board of Health and they will advise you. Ilene White, R.N. asked if they could visit the Board of Health patients once a month instead of every two months. The Board said only if the doctor ordered that. After further discussion the Board thanked the nurses for coming into the meeting and the nurses retired. 1 1 1 1 1 505 -3- In the Giroux Building, 3 Meriam Street where Robert International used to be, barrels and bottles were discovered in the basement. Some contained GIROUX BLDG. sodium cyanide. The labels were half off the drums. Mr. Smith had the drums HAZARDOUS sealed tight, the Fire Department also checked them out and now they are WASTE being removed shortly. The American Cancer Society has written to say they would like a rep- resentative from the Lexington Board of Health to attend their meetings. AMERICAN There is a representative from other surrounding towns. CANCER SOCIETY Dr. Asarkof volunteered to be the representative for the Lexington Board of Health. Mr. Smith told the Board that he had spent a week at Tufts University at a course on asbestos. He said it was very comprehensive and that he did ASBESTOS enjoy it. COURSE There is some kind of a rash that is going around at the Diamond Jr. RASH High School. There have been a number of pupils that have come in contact DIAMOND JR. with this disease. No one seems to know what it is so a Epimemiologist from HIGH Children's Hospital has agreed to meet and do an infectious disease examina- tion to determine what this rash is. The Board of Health has agreed to pay up to $200.00 for this diagnosis and they would like a report of what the diagnosis was after the physician sees the student. The Board discussed Mr. Bucca's letter from a Kathy Breslin, M.D., resi- WOODSTOVE dent at Mass Eye and Ear stating he "may have the throat condition" because of Mr. Southard's stove. The Board would like more information about Mr. Bucca's exam at Mass Eye and Ear and told Mr. Smith to draft a letter to Kathy Breslin, M.D. asking for clarification of Mr. Bucca's condition of his throat. They would like substantiation or clarification concerning the report she had written for Vincent Bucca regarding his throat condition. Also, ask "what is the evidence that she has that this could have been caused by the conditions that existed in this neighborhood?" The Board suggested any correspondence we have to Mass Eye and Ear should also be sent to Mr. Southard and Mr. Bucca so they will know what is happening in regard to this matter. Mr. Smith reported that the Town Manager wrote a letter to Mr. Hoyt in re- gard to the proposal of dumping the sludge in Lexington/Waltham at the State Met Hospital. The Board briefly discussed the rDNA and Mr. Smith briefed the Board on the happenings at Collaborative Research and Seragen. -4 - The following permits are to be signed by the Board: Animal Permits Lisa Fitzgerald 342 Bedford St. Installers Permit Griecci Bros. Contracting Corp. 115 Grove St. Rubbish Disposal Permit R. W. Harding & Son, Trucking 44 Crest St., Concord, MA Mobile Food Server Mike's Canteen (Michael A. Withrow - renewal) 10 Grant Street. Food Service Establishment Permits Fairlawn Nursing Home 265 Lowell St. Dunkin Donuts 373 Waltham St. Howard Johnson, Inc. Rte. 128 & 2A New England Vending at Varium Vacuum 121 Hartwell Avenue