MEMBER UPDATE

WMPHA JOB BOARD

Send your postings to walker@frcog.org for inclusion.

• Athol Health Agent
• Health Inspectors (two openings) for Central Pioneer Valley Health District (Chicopee, South Hadley, Holyoke) 
• Great Barrington Health Inspector
• Berkshire Regional Planning Commission Public Health Nurse Educator
• Berkshire Regional Planning Commission Public Health Community Social Worker



SAVE THE DATE

RECREATIONAL CAMP CODE REVIEW -- 4/4 at 1 PM

DPH is in the process of rolling out new Recreational Camp Regulations. Just in time for the summer inspection season, we are hosting Kerry Wagner of the Division of Community Sanitation for an online training. The workshop will be April 4th from 1-3, on zoom. Registration information coming soon!

February Power Hour Workshop Materials



Over 150 people joined us for the Franklin/Hampshire Field Training Hub & WMPHA's "How to Write a Housing Order To Correct" training this week! If you missed the training, you can find the video and materials shared on the 12th, along with materials from all of our workshops, at the  WMPHA Seminars Page

MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC HEALTH INSPECTOR TRAINING (PHIT) UPDATE

The Office of Local and Regional Health is in the middle of the first round of the updated classroom-based MA PHIT Food and MA PHIT Housing Refresher trainings. More dates are slated to be announced soon. These trainings are required for all inspectors/agents/directors that are part of a PHE grant and conduct food or housing inspections.  Both MA PHIT Housing and MA PHIT Food require a set of pre-requisites to be started prior to enrollment. The pre-requisites for both food and housing can be found here. The pre-requisite courses must be completed prior to requesting field training.

Additional state trainings for Camps, Pools, and Septic work will be developed in the coming year and follow a similar process.

Massachusetts Municipal Opioid Abatement Conference: March 19-20 Online

Hosted by the Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS) and Care Massachusetts: Opioid Abatement Partnership, the BSAS-sponsored training and technical service provider for opioid abatement. 

This inaugural conference is intended to connect municipalities to the resources and tools needed to uphold the requirements of the State Subdivision Agreement. 

Panelists include people from across the Commonwealth with expertise in opioid prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery. 

Visit the website to learn more about the presenters and topics or register online. Registration is free and open for both days. 

Visit the Care Massachusetts website to learn more about the kinds of help available to your community. 

Day One | March 19, 2024 | 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. 

Day Two | March 20, 2024 | 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.  

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to hear from state partners, learn what’s happening in other municipalities, and gain access to resources that will support the opioid abatement work taking place in your community. 

Get some help AND build the next generation of local public health professionals!

The Academic Public Health Corps has students in Western Mass eager to help out your health department! They can provide:

• Health communications (social media, infographics, website content)
• Data analysis and visualization
• Translation services 
• Community Engagement and health equity research, and policy recommendation 
• Administrative support including LBOH meeting minutes, Digital file organization, Background research and planning

Partnering with the APHC is easy:

• Submit a project request form
• Have a 30-minute intake call to align on goals, timeline, deliverables
• Provide any clarifying information regarding requested project
• Complete a brief evaluation of the experience

Missed a previous WMPHA Training Event?

Click here to see recordings and materials from recent workshops.



Sincerely,

The WMPHA Executive Committee:

·       Sharon Hart/South Hadley, President

·       Gerri Swanson/Southampton, Vice President

·       Bri Dupras/Franklin/Hampshire Field Training Hub, Treasurer

·       Phoebe Walker/FRCOG

·       Tom FitzGerald/Retired, Secretary

·       Laura Kittross/BRPC

·       Ryan Paxton/Montague

·     Tom Hibert/Southwick

·       Rebecca Jurzcyk/Great Barrington

·      Tammy Spencer/East Longmeadow

·     Charlie Kaniecki, Hatfield

·     Randy White, Retired, Ex Officio