By Journal Staff
The Revere Board of Health held its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, August 28, in the City Council Chambers. On hand for the session were chair Dr. Drew Bunker, Kathleen Savage, and Viviana Catano, as well as Director of Public Health Lauren Buck, Health Agent/Director of Inspectional Services Dept. (ISD) Michael Wells, and Bd. of Health Clerk Paula Sepulveda.
The board heard a presentation from Vanessa Guardado-Menjívar, who is the Regional Epidemiologist for the North Suffolk Public Health Collaborative (NSPHC). Ms. Guardado-Menjívar told the members of the services offered by her organization (which was created in 2016 collaboratively by Revere, Chelsea, and Winthrop) and provided an update of the current Community Health Assessment (CHA), which is used to support a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP).
She noted that the NSPHC kicked off the current CHA last fall and has been collecting data for most of this year, with an anticipated completion date in the fall.
She noted that the survey has focused on five themes: safe and affordable housing (32% of respondents said they have difficulty paying their monthly rent or mortgage); behavioral and mental health (which was the top concern of over 50% of Revere residents); economic stability and mobility (12.4% of Revere residents live below the federal poverty line) ; environmental health (such as air quality and flooding); and access to medical, dental, and preventive care.
“This information will be incredibly useful for a lot of reasons and especially for the health of our community,” said Bunker.
Buck presented the Communicable Disease monthly report. She noted that there was the usual spike in COVID-19 this past summer, with 362 confirmed cases and another 108 suspected cases in the city. She said this corresponds with national trends which spike during the summer. Buck also noted that the age group most likely to be hospitalized with COVID are those under the age of 18. She added that this is because children are returning to school and thereby providing the opportunity for the virus to spread.
Buck noted that there were eight cases of salmonella locally.
Wells presented the ISD report for August. Wells said that ISD issued 128 certificates of fitness for housing units; performed 20 reinspections; conducted three new interior complaints with an additional five in progress; and performed two pool/spa inspections.
In the food department, ISD performed 32 routine food inspections, five reinspections, four complaint inspections, two pre-opening inspections, and two temporary food inspections.
In the exterior sanitation division, ISD agents issued 403 total citations for trash violations; three for rodent harborage; 61 for overflowing dumpsters; two for commercial vehicles in residential neighborhoods; five for multiple unregistered vehicles on a property; 25 for junk heaps, dumps, and automobile graveyards; 121 for unclean or unsanitary land (which includes overgrown vegetation); and two for unsafe structures.
The board also issued licenses for the following:
— Body Art: Thais Merlim, 91 Hutchinson Street; and
— Chickenkeeping: Joseph Di Censo, 64 Crescent Ave.
Buck informed the board that inspections had been conducted by her office and both applicants had met the requirements to receive their licenses.
