On Thursday, Valerie Bird began her first day on the job as Greenfield’s new health director for the city’s Board of Health. Bird brings experience from the foothill towns of Goshen, Westhampton, Williamsburg and Whately, where she served as health agent. In addition to the usual newcomer’s challenges of putting names to faces and prioritizing the workload, Bird barely had time to say “Hello” and “Good-bye” to the city’s lone health inspector, Ivan Kwagala, whose resignation took effect Friday. Kwagala’s departure after two months on the job marked the sixth staff change in the last two years. So instead of coming here to lead a team that includes a health inspector, Bird finds herself functioning as both director and inspector. That is not an auspicious beginning.
Our local boards of health are charged with protecting the public health through the control of disease, the promotion of sanitary living conditions, and the protection of the environment from damage and pollution. The duties as set by the Massachusetts Board of Health take six pages just to summarize. Inspections alone encompass food establishments, bathing beaches, swimming pools, campgrounds, children’s camps, septic systems, housing, cabins, motels and mobile home parks, and sanitary landfills.
“It’s one of the critical jobs in the state,” said Mayor William Martin. Yet it is among the hardest to fill and retain. In Greenfield, the Health Department has fluctuated from 2-1/2 employees to one part-time employee in the past two years. Consequently, about 80 percent of establishments that serve food in Greenfield were overdue for a health inspection in 2019, according to department data. Some local businesses were delayed from opening because they were waiting for a health inspection. According to Kwagala, the department also has a backlog in housing complaints and inspections. He said a department with a director and two full-time inspectors could complete the work needed.
That goal may be difficult to reach in the near future. But keeping any team in place starts with encouraging them to stay. Here are some ways to help any town build and retain a strong Board of Health team:
Sweeten the pot: Health directors and inspectors are highly sought after. To entice the best candidates, amp up the pay and offer incentives to stay.
Supplement with additional help: Job burnout has contributed to the departures of many inspectors and agents. Budgeting for part-time help would provide the flexibility needed to meet unexpected demands or fill in when employees are sick, on vacation or away for other reasons.
Alternatively, enter into a contract with the Franklin Regional Council of Governments. The COG’s regional Cooperative Public Health service currently serves 12 towns in Franklin County, providing environmental health inspections, code enforcement, education, wellness and special programs.
Dial down the politics by not pitting departments against one another at budget time.
Finally, make the entire staff and members of the Board of Health feel supported and valued. It costs nothing to give credit where credit is due.
As the departing Kwagala put it, “Support your Board of Health because we’re doing what we can to protect the public. We just need the help. We are doing the best we can.”