2026-09-24 - Board of Health

00:10Hello all. Welcome to the month of

00:12September city of River Board of Health

00:15public meeting. Please rise for the

00:17national anthem.

00:20>> Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge

00:23allegiance to the flag of the United

00:24States of America and to the republic

00:27for which it stands. One nation under

00:29God, indivisible, with liberty and

00:32justice for all.

00:35>> Correction, we will not be singing the

00:36national anthem, although Michael Wells

00:39has an excellent voice, but we're going

00:40to hold back.

00:43All right, so

00:45first introduction. Um, so my name is

00:48Dr. Drew Bunker, the chairperson of

00:50board of health. To my right is Viviana

00:52Katano, board member. And then on uh the

00:55phone today is Kathleen Savage, other

00:57board member. She could not be with us

00:59today. Um invited municipal staff is

01:02Lauren Buck, director of public health,

01:04Paula Subvita, board of health clerk,

01:08and Michael Wells, who is the

01:13his official title.

01:16Health agent director. Thank you. I've

01:18said this a hundred times and I'm

01:20already forgetting. You put me on the

01:21spot. Um, great. Two errors already so

01:25far. We're doing great. So, next thing

01:28um will be is review and approve the

01:31minutes from last month. So, I'm ask

01:34>> approve the minutes.

01:36>> I as well. I don't think we can get C.

01:38>> Kathy is here.

01:39>> Kathy is here.

01:42>> Kathy, raise your hand. Okay. Excellent.

01:45Next is going to be the public health

01:47communicable disease monthly report with

01:49Lauren Buck.

01:50>> Thanks, Dr. Bunker. For September 2026,

01:53um our communicable disease monthly

01:55report, a very low burden of

01:57communicable diseases. Um COVID is

01:59ticking up, flu is still very low. Um

02:01hepatitis B and C are still present. Um

02:04but other than that, a very low burden

02:06of communicable diseases, which is

02:07great. Some updates from state and

02:10national public health. Uh the fall

02:12respiratory illness season has

02:13officially begun. Surges of COVID are

02:15being seen throughout the country. If

02:17you are high- risk, it's worth getting

02:19vaccinated right now. Norovirus, which

02:21is the stomach bug that causes diarrhea,

02:24vomiting, abdominal pain, is on the

02:25rise. Again, uh the typical season for

02:28norovirus is from fall until early

02:30spring, so expect more cases. Norovirus

02:33isn't killed by hand sanitizer, so soap

02:35and water with good handashing practices

02:37is the best way to protect yourself and

02:38your family. And then finally, two weeks

02:41ago, the Massachusetts Department of

02:43Public Health announced the seventh

02:44human case of West Nile virus.

02:46Currently, Revier's risk level for is

02:48very high for West Nile virus. It's

02:50categorized as high, not moderate, not

02:52low, and will remain so until the first

02:54hard frost of the season. Please take

02:56individual precautions throughout the

02:58next few months because the free private

03:00property weekly mosquito spray has

03:02completed for the year. Um, just updates

03:05from the city side from Ravier. Um,

03:08couple of events coming up. Please join

03:10us for the annual fire prevention open

03:12house on Saturday, uh, October 10th from

03:1411 to 2. Ravier's fire department and

03:17emergency preparedness team will be

03:18present. Free food giveaways, chance to

03:20climb around on the public safety

03:22vehicles like ambulances, trucks, and

03:24ladders. So, bring your kids, bring your

03:25family, and that's Saturday, um, October

03:2810th from 11 to 2. Next up, an up an

03:31sorry, an update about fall respiratory

03:33vaccines here in the city. For our

03:35homebound population, we are again

03:37offering public health home visits this

03:39October for Revier's homebound. We have

03:41flu, highdose flu, COVID, RSV, and

03:43numacco 21. Please call 781-4858486

03:48the public health office to schedule an

03:50appointment for you or your loved one.

03:52We will vaccinate caregivers of

03:54homebound individuals as well. On

03:57Wednesdays, every Wednesday through

03:58September and October, we will be

03:59offering flu shots to the general public

04:01from 3 to 5:00 pm in the public health

04:03office at city hall. Walk-ins are

04:05available. If you would like to schedule

04:07an appointment, you can call our office

04:09at again 781-4858486.

04:12That's every Wednesday throughout

04:14throughout October for flu shots for the

04:16general public, city hall employees,

04:18family, friends, anyone who needs to

04:19come through for a flu shot. Finally,

04:22the we have a large regional clinic

04:24working with Chelsea and Winthre again

04:26to offer a clinic on Saturday, October

04:2817th from 10:00 to 4:00 at the Chelsea

04:30Senior Center. It is in Chelsea on 10

04:32Riley Way. We will have fall respiratory

04:35vaccines um insured and uninsured in

04:38individuals um will are able to come

04:41through. Walk-ins are um available. And

04:43then lastly, um Paula, are you able to

04:46pull up the data? Um, I wanted to make

04:49sure the board of health was aware about

04:50our opioid overdose de overdose death

04:53data. Uh, so every year the state

04:55department of public health releases

04:57municipal level opioid death data for

04:592025. The data was just released several

05:01weeks ago and it was really really

05:03promising. The city of River saw a 57%

05:06reduction in opioid related overdose

05:08deaths in 2025 with a total of 10. This

05:11is the lowest number we have seen since

05:142016, which is the last year I have data

05:16for. And 2025 is the River's third

05:20straight year in a row with declining

05:21overdose deaths. Um the graphic is up on

05:24the board. Oh, I think we're zooming.

05:26There we go. Um that's a bar graph that

05:28shows every year since 2020 since 2016

05:31of our total opioid overdose deaths. The

05:34last bar is obviously 2025. You can see

05:36it's a huge decrease, which is amazing

05:38progress. Obviously, any overdose

05:40deaths, one death is one too many, but

05:42we are on the track um of having zero

05:44overdose deaths for a year, which is the

05:46goal of the public health department and

05:47the city office. So, what this shows is

05:51that the work we are doing is working.

05:53And I wanted to just review some of the

05:55things that we've implemented over the

05:56last several years that have really

05:58shown um an impact in this data.

06:00Citywide Narcan boxes and spots of

06:02historically high overdose calls. our

06:04street medicine doctor who has

06:05contracted with the city to help with

06:07quick medical assisted treatment

06:08induction and other primary care medical

06:10interventions. We have increased weekly

06:12hours of outreach workers for a total of

06:1460 hours per week of people who are out

06:16in the streets in the encampments um

06:19doing outreach to um our opioid overdose

06:21sorry our opioid use population. Uh we

06:24we had we added a highintensity case

06:26manager who specifically works to help

06:28people maintain housing specifically

06:30with opioid use disorder. We have a

06:32sober home scholarship program to help

06:34people stay in the recovery pathway. And

06:36we increase the funding for basic needs

06:38for our unsheltered homeless and opioid

06:39use disorder community members. Things

06:41like driver's license applications,

06:42fees, laundry services, etc. Um, so

06:46overall, this is really, really

06:47promising. We hope the trend continues

06:49to decrease until we have zero like I

06:51mentioned, but I wanted to make sure you

06:52are aware of that data point that just

06:54came out. And that's it.

06:58>> Great. Thank you, Lauren. Next is going

07:00to be the inspectional service monthly

07:02report with our director of inspectional

07:04services and health agent Michael Wells.

07:07>> Thanks Dr. Bunker. Uh inspectional

07:09services monthly report um for September

07:12on the interior housing division

07:13certificates of fitness. We issued 78

07:16certificate of fitness reinspection. 15

07:19interior complaints in process. Five

07:22interior complaint inspections. Five

07:26pool and spire inspections. Two

07:29on the food inspection division. Um

07:31number of routine inspections conducted

07:32was 44. Reinsspections were four. Number

07:35of complaint inspections were three.

07:37Number of pre-opening inspections were

07:39two. Temporary food inspections uh

07:41licenses issued um 50. And that's for

07:43the upcoming uh fall festival in um

07:46establishment closure one on the

07:48exterior sanitation division. Um trash

07:51violations issued 350. Carts out at

07:54improper times, two violations.

07:57Commercial vehicle and residential

07:58neighborhoods, one violation.

08:00Overflowing dumpsters, 55 violations.

08:03Improper signage on public property, one

08:05violation. Uh junk heep and automobile

08:08graveyard, 20 violations. Multiple

08:10unregistered vehicles, we issued seven

08:12violations. Road and hoverage, five

08:14violations. Unclean, unsanitary land for

08:17overgrowth, 133.

08:20And that concludes uh the inspectional

08:22services monthly report.

08:25>> Thank you, Michael. I think that was

08:27going to conclude this month's meeting.

08:29Oh, one more thing. Sorry.

08:33>> Oh, creative update. Um,

08:35>> yeah,

08:35>> I'll send it over to Lauren.

08:36>> Okay, great. I just wanted to give you

08:38all an update about um the enforcement

08:42we have taken since the city of

08:44Rivieratratum

08:45retail ban has gone into place and also

08:47remember if I told you last month um the

08:51state has also issued a ban on sales as

08:53well. So I wanted to give you an update

08:54on what's happening here in River. So

08:56throughout September, the director of

08:57inspectional services, director of

08:59public health, and the food inspector

09:01conducted spot checks at tobacco and

09:02food retailers regarding the board of

09:04health recent regulations restricting

09:06the sale of cratom products. Um overall

09:0928 stores were inspected. One store was

09:11found to be in violation of the

09:12regulation, which was quick food store

09:14309 River Street on September 24th. We

09:16found powders and pills from various

09:18manufacturers on the shelving behind the

09:20cashier station, about 25 items in

09:22total. The items were confiscated and

09:24disposed of by the inspectional team and

09:26as per the ordinance, a warning letter

09:28was issued to the owner of Quick Food

09:30Store. A repeat, sorry, a repeat spot

09:32check will be conducted at a later date.

09:34No other stores were found to be in

09:36violation of the regulation at the time

09:38of the meeting. I just wanted to give a

09:39rundown of the inspections that we

09:41completed. So on uh September 24th on

09:45Broadway, we went to Broadway

09:46Convenience Mart, BCM Liquors, Shell Gas

09:48Station, and Geo Liquors. On Squire

09:50Road, we went to River Smoke Shop, Joe's

09:52Market, Nor Market Market, and Dairy

09:54Mart. On River Street, we went to ABC

09:56Cigar Store, Sophia's Meat Market, Two

09:58Brothers Mart, and Quick Food Store.

10:00Again, this is the the store that had

10:02the violation. So, a warning letter was

10:04issued to the owner. We also went to

10:06Onetop Convenience. On Northshore Road,

10:08we went to 7-Eleven, Wonderland

10:10Convenience Store, and Wonderland

10:11Entertainment. And then on um the 16th

10:15uh the food inspector went to the

10:18following um retailers on Shirley A.

10:20Shirley A variety store, Super Martedo,

10:23Carla's Market, Super Convenience Store,

10:26Anchor Tom Market, Victoria Meat Market,

10:29Wonderland Liquor Store, Revier Beach

10:31Food Mart, and Ocean Liquors on River

10:34Beach Parkway, Broadway Liquor, Al Prime

10:36Gas Station, and on Northshore Road,

10:38Richdale Foods. Any questions about how

10:42that's going?

10:45>> No, sounds great. Thank you.

10:47>> Thank you.

10:49>> All right. Well, that will that will now

10:50conclude this month's meeting. Thank

10:52you.