WMPHA news & updates

January 10, 2025

What Are Your Concerns About the Health of Your Community?

WMPHA is supporting the work of the Western MA Coalition of Hospitals, who are working together on creating their 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA).


Part of the project is to hear from local public health officials — which is a regulatory requirement for hospitals. The Coalition is doing that in two ways which we encourage you to participate in:


FIRST: A survey of local public health officials and staff in Western Mass to ask what you see as issues in your communities, what feedback you have for the hospitals, and what laws and regulations you see as important.

You can take the survey by clicking here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PublicHealthCHNA  


SECOND: An online meeting on 1/28 at 9:30 AM — Public Health staff and officials will be asked what feedback they have for hospitals, what policy changes are needed to improve health, what people you are most concerned about, etc. 

You can sign up for that discussion by clicking here: https://forms.gle/PXUrmR1aQae5jWHm9


There are many organizations that use hospital CHNAs as the basis of the work we plan to do, so your input is very important!

Trainings and Workshops

Tobacco Control Update for Boards of Health

in Franklin and Hampshire Counties

What is your Board of Health/Health Department's job in Tobaco Control?


Towns who both are and are not members of Mass Tobacco Control Program funded coalitions (like the Pioneer Valley Tobacco Coalition) gathered on December 9 to hear about what happens during compliance checks, retail inspections, regulation hearings, and after a sale to minor. For towns not in the PVTC or another MTCP program, the Mass Health Officers Association was there to describe new inspection, compliance check, and regulation writing supports.


We also heard about some emerging nicotine products from the Communities That Care Coalition and the Hampshire Franklin Tobacco Free Partnership.


If you missed the meeting, you can review the materials at the link below.

Click to see the slides and recording

Reduced Oxygen Packaging for Food Inspectors

This webinar covered the basics of reduced oxygen packaging for health inspectors. It was co-sponsored by the Franklin-Hampshire Training Hub and WMPHA, and presented on December 11, 2024. It was not an official training of the MA DPH OLRH, or Training Hub curriculum.


If you missed the meeting, you can review the materials and see the video at the link below.

Click to see the slides and recording

New WMPHA Website!

Check us out at www.wmpha.org!

Thanks to financial support from DPH and help from Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, WMPHA has a new website! Please check out our archive of training materials and newsletter, helpful resources, Executive Committee meeting minutes, and more!


Access prior trainings online at WMPHA Trainings and Webinars Webpage


Access prior newsletters at WMPHA Newsletter Archive Webpage


Visit Website