HEATH — If all goes according to plan, Heath will have a new town nurse in early June.
The position, job description and hiring process were discussed between the Selectboard, and Gene Garland and Sheila Litchfield of the Board of Health, on May 19.
The Board of Health and Selectboard agreed that interviews would be conducted on June 2, before the regularly scheduled Board of Health meeting. Interviews would be conducted by two Board of Health members and Selectboard member Elissa Viarengo.
On Wednesday, June 3, the Board of Health intends to present its decision to the Selectboard over Zoom. If the Selectboard approves the decision, Heath would have a new town nurse.
Litchfield and Garland noted that this would be a very quick turnaround, but Litchfield said the Board of Health has “a couple possible candidates.” Part of the reason for this quick turnaround is that there is still some money left in the town nurse account from fiscal year 2026, and the Board of Health is hoping to use that funding to pay current town nurse Claire Rabbitt to help train the new hire.
There was discussion earlier this year regarding whether Heath should keep this position, after Rabbitt announced she would be retiring this spring. The position was included in the fiscal year 2027 budget, with the salary for the position raising from $12,277 to $13,001, a 2.8% increase. The budget line of $1,000 for expenses went unchanged.
“Not a lot has changed,” Garland said regarding the job description. “It pretty much encompasses everything we’ve talked about prior to this. … I also want to point out that this is not a senior center nurse [and] this is not just a town nurse to sit at Jacobs Road Municipal Center waiting for something to happen. The nurse is here to promote the health of individuals, families and the community through teaching, counseling, and preventative and rehabilitative measures.”
Some changes include the number of hours worked per week, which would drop from 10 hours each week to eight. With the new salary and new hours, the town nurse’s hourly rate will be $31.25. Litchfield and Garland said this rate is still lower than most other municipalities in Massachusetts, with Litchfield saying that to make it more equitable, Heath “might have to cut the hours and expectations of the job.”
Also at the May 19 meeting, the Selectboard informed the Board of Health that Cindie Garland will be staying on as the board clerk, a position for which the Selectboard had previously sought full-time applicants. Garland works for the town five hours per week and is operating on a temporary basis.
Selectboard Chair Robyn Provost-Carlson said that while the current situation is temporary, “it’s going to be a while” before the town finds a full-time replacement. The Selectboard had pulled the job posting after receiving no applicants.
Also at the meeting, Town Coordinator Mia Francesconi presented her pick for an office assistant, which is a 10-hour-per-week position with a salary of $10,531. Francesconi and Selectboard member Will Emmet conducted the interviews, and the Selectboard approved a candidate to be offered the job.
