Archived Annual Reports 

ANNUAL REPORT 2011
NHHOA EXECUTIVE BOARD

On behalf of the Health Officers Association, I would like to dedicate this year to three Health Officers; Louise Hannan, Liaison for the State of New Hampshire, Dr. Donald Bent, Health Officer for the Town of New London and Michelle Bonsteel, Health Officer for the Town of Bristol. Louise was hired in June 1998. She resigned her position as of November 14, 2011. Thirteen years of dedicated service to all the Health Officers in the state.  Thank you Louise for all you have done for the association and the Health Officers of the state; planning 2 educational conferences a year, connecting us to legislation, commissions, other conferences and opportunities. We wish her the best. She will be greatly missed. 

The association has been informed that the liaison position will not be filled. I feel this is a huge step backwards for the State, the Department of Health and Human Services, and Health Officers. The Health Officer Association started to advocate for the liaison position around 1984. It was not until 1993 that the first liaison was hired.

2011 was the 60th year of the Health Officer Association. At the fall conference the association paid special tribute to the longest serving member on the executive board. Dr. Donald Bent, Health Officer in New London. He has been the Health Officer in New London since 1985. He became a member on the executive board in 1989. For 22 years of dedicated service, he was awarded an Outstanding Service Award.

With sadness in our hearts our community lost a dedicated health officer and building code official. Michelle Bonsteel, Health Officer from Bristol passed away in October.

We want to thank Steve Cunningham, Health Officer in Croydon for his past few years of service as our treasurer. He has resigned his Health Officer position in Croydon and his position on the board as our treasurer. At the fall conference the association members  voted in Brian Lockard, Health Officer in Salem and Danville as a board member and treasurer.

As for other board business……

Legislation changes we are looking at include an amendment to RSA 128:5 to allow a Health Officer to perform any lawful duties within another town at the request of such town. HB 514 Entry on Private Property and HB 234 Food Service Licensure are two issues that will need to be addressed in 2012. The board will be reviewing the possibility of hiring government relations services to keep track of LSRs that might affect Health Officers.

The Regionalization Committee has wrapped up it’s assessments. The final report was given at a meeting in September by the council itself.  This committee will now be the Public Health Improvement Services Council.

The Council on the Relationship of Public Health and the Environment is now the Environmental Tracking Committee.

The board met with the president of the NH Public Health Association, Jeanie Holt. We hope to be working together to further both our efforts of educating the public and health officials on environmental and public health topics.

The association joined the National Environmental Health Association as a sustaining member. This allowed the association to have 5 members at any one time be signed on for on-line training programs.

The nuisance task force met 3 times this year. The group was lead by Michael Dumond, Bureau of Public Health Protection. Members were Health Officers, Dept. Of Agriculture, Dept. of Environmental Services, and legal from DHHS Session one the general definition of “public health nuisance” in NH law was discussed.  It was decided to address the areas of concern through guidelines and frequently asked questions for Health Officers to refer to for guidance as opposed to writing rules. The second session the group reviewed top priority nuisances(based on the list identified by the HOA Executive Board in 2009). Session three the group reviewed the draft of guidelines/FAQ and sample local ordinances from NH cities and towns. The final guidelines document has yet to be finalized.

The spring conference held training in mold, moisture and indoor air quality. The fall conference topic of training was the health officer’s role in emergency and sheltering. The technical trainings were presented by Phil Alexakos of the Manchester Health Department –NH Institute for Local Public Health Practice. Other  training topics included healthy homes, minimum housing standards and communications. David Ropeik, author and communications consultant, presented a lively discussion – “How Risky Is It Really-Why Our Fears Don’t Always Match The Facts.”

Thank you to the association board members; Don Bent, Chuck Stata, Bill Oleksak, Wayne Whitford, Cec Curran, Dennise Horrocks, Steve Cunningham, and Louise Hannan for your time, support and hard work throughout the year.

Please visit our website:  www.nhlgc.org/affiliate/nhhoa  for upcoming conference information, the revised Health Officer Manual soon to be released, and links to NH laws, rules and other information pertaining to environmental and public health topics.

Submitted by:

Judy Jervis
Deputy Health Officer
Exeter, NH
NH HOA, President