The following services are offered by our office:
In addition to the above services, the nurse also does the following:
The Nurse is responsible for conducting case investigations on communicable diseases. In Massachusetts, reporting of communicable and infectious diseases is required under MGL 105 CMR 300.000: Reportable Diseases, Surveillance, and Isolation and Quarantine Requirements. These regulations require that health care providers and laboratories report communicable diseases to the local Board of Health in which the patient is residing. There are approximately 80 reportable communicable diseases that are designated as dangerous to public health. If your laboratory results indicate that you have a communicable disease, such as salmonella or norovirus, the Supervisory Nurse will begin the investigation by contacting you to ask a series of questions that will be dependent upon what disease you have contracted. Your information remains confidential between the Board of Health and the MA Department of Public Health. The Supervisory Nurse collects information on the patient and potential contacts to prevent disease outbreaks and to provide vaccines and education, if needed.
The Nurse is involved in emergency preparedness planning through the planning and execution of emergency response drills. The Board of Health is responsible for maintaining and exercising an Emergency Dispensing Site (EDS) Plan in the event that our residents would need medication or vaccinations from the CDC’s Strategic National Stockpile. The yearly flu clinic serves as a full scale exercise (or emergency preparedness drill) for BOH staff and Woburn Volunteer Reserve Corps volunteers. The Nurse is responsible for the planning and execution of the yearly full scale exercise and for updating emergency plans.
National Health Observances and Healthy People 2020 information
Tuberculosis referral and case management (Tuberculosis (active disease) and TBI (non-infectious disease exposure)