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Save the Date! MPHA’s Annual
Meeting
MPHA's
annual meeting will be on Thursday, October 5 at the
Royal Plaza Hotel and Trade Center in
Marlborough. Our keynote speaker is Dr. Alfred
Crosby, author of America's Forgotten Pandemic: The
Influenza of 1918. The event will feature an
expo and poster session, luncheon and awards ceremony,
business meeting, update on our very productive year,
and conclude with a wine and cheese
reception. For more information, please contact
Roberta Friedman: rfriedman@mphaweb.org,
or 617-524-6696, ext. 103.
Preserve Our
Budget Victories!
On June 30, the House and Senate
Conference Committee concluded its FY07 budget
negotiations. We’re pleased to report that the
$473.4 million budget for the Department of Public
Health (DPH) is an increase of $42.6 million over
FY06.
We should be proud of our
accomplishments. However, there is one more
important step: urging the legislature to over-ride
Governor Romney’s public health vetoes, announced on
July 8, totaling over $6 million. Details will be
provided in a forthcoming alert.
New Report Assesses Local Health
Departments
 In light of emerging public health threats, such
as pandemic flu, natural disasters, and terrorism, MPHA
joined its colleagues in the Coalition for Local Public
Health in producing an analysis of the workforce
capacity of the Commonwealth's local health
departments. Among our study's conclusions: over 70
percent of local health officials report that they do
not have enough staff to fulfill their
responsibilities.
At a State House media event on June
28, the coalition was joined by Senator Richard Moore
and Representative Patricia Walrath, co-chairs of the
Health Care Financing Committee, and Senator Susan
Fargo, co-chair of the Public Health Committee, in
calling attention to the need to strengthen local health
departments.
Legislation
Update
As the legislative session begins to wind
down, MPHA and its allies are working hard and making
progress on important public health bills,
including:
Pharmacy Access
Bill
On June 30, Governor Romney
vetoed legislation to prevent AIDS and hepatitis C by
legalizing the over-the-counter sale of clean needles
without a prescription. The legislature is expected
to over-ride the
veto.
Mercury Products
Bill
A conference committee
successfully ironed out minor differences in the House
and Senate bills, and the House and Senate have both
enacted the bill. Next stop: Governor Romney’s
desk. It's expected that Romney may amend the bill
so please stay tuned.
School Nutrition
Bill
H. 4452 is in
the House Ways and Means Committee, awaiting a vote on
the House floor. We’re continuing to generate
support, publishing op-ed pieces in local newspapers,
obtaining new endorsements, and sending “got lunch?”
postcards to legislators.
For more information, please contact Eric
Weltman: 617-524-6696, ext. 111, or eweltman@mphaweb.org.
Central
Massachusetts
Report
Two new regional committee members and an
intern are working with MPHA Organizer Sara Kanevsky in
central Massachusetts. Committee member Dr. Robin
Toft Klar is an assistant professor at the Graduate
School of Nursing at the UMass Medical School, and also
serves as co-chair of MPHA’s Public Health Nursing
section. Committee member Keesha LaTulippe works at
the Willis Center in Worcester, has worked with the
Worcester Youth Center, and recently spoke at a
Community Forum on Multi-Cultural Mental Health Care at
Clark University. Piper Lillard, a third year
resident at Barre Family Health Center, will start a
practicum this summer with the Central Massachusetts
Committee.
The
Central Massachusetts Committee has launched a Model
Healthy Schools Campaign in Greater Worcester to
preserve and expand funding for community schools and
school-based health centers. The committee is
starting with a pilot project at the Elm Park Community
School to design and fund a school health center that
will be open to the community throughout the school day
and after school hours.
Western Massachusetts
Report
Community organizer AJ Juarez helped
coordinate a community and legislative breakfast on the
new health care access law. The speakers were Ann
Eldridge-Malone, from the Alliance to Defend Health
Care, and Brian Rosman, of Health Care for
All. Over 40 people attended, including staff from
the offices of State Representatives Coakley-Rivera,
Keenan, and Welch, and the event was featured on local
television news. The breakfast, held quarterly, is
a partnership between MPHA, the Pioneer Valley Area
Health Education Center, the Community Outreach Workers
Network and Training Coalition (COWNT), the Springfield
Health Department, and Partners for a Healthier
Community Inc. (a program of Baystate
Hospital).
The
Community Health Network Area #4 (Springfield), chaired
by Francis Hubbard, has formed a public policy
subcommittee. Areas of interest for the CHNA, which
includes many MPHA members, are youth violence, the
community benefits programs, and community health worker
initiatives. CHNA #4 recently joined MPHA as a
two-year organizational member.
Successful Global Warming
Forum
On June 21, MPHA’s Environmental and Occupational
Health  Section held a successful
forum on global warming. Dr. Paul Epstein, of the
Harvard Medical School, gave a compelling assessment of
public health concerns, while Lori Segall, of the
Massachusetts Climate Action Network, followed up with a
discussion of how to get involved at the local
level. If you are interested in future section
meetings, please contact Roberta Friedman: rfriedman@mphaweb.org or
617-524-6696, ext. 103.
Obesity Prevention in
Framingham
MPHA is
pleased to announce that we were awarded a grant by the
MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation to work with
the Framingham Public Schools on overweight and obesity
prevention. We will work to involve the community
in order to successfully implement the school nutrition
and physical activity wellness policy. We will
begin by hiring a part-time community organizer. If
would like to learn more about the position, please
contact Roberta Friedman: rfriedman@mphaweb.org,
or 617-524-6696, ext. 103.
MASS
211
MPHA board
member and Medical Foundation President Ray Considine
announced that the Medical Foundation was awarded a
contract to implement Mass 211, the emergency line for
health and human services assistance. Thirty-eight
states have already gone on line and Masschusetts' will
be running by the 2nd week of
August. For more information, please contact Gary
Lever at the Medical Foundation: 617-451-0049, ext.
302.
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