There’s a new look for the Winthrop Board of Health.
Two new members, along with returning board member Jeanne Maggio, were introduced at last week’s meeting.
Maggio is joined on the new board of health lineup by Lisa Stefano and Dr. Heidi Fantasia.
In addition to the new members, Maggio said the board of health will be taking a new approach to its meetings with each member rotating as chair.
“We have decided as a board to share the chairmanship so that each time we have a meeting, one of us will chair the meeting rather than electing one chairperson,” said Maggio.
Sharing the chairmanship made sense based on the qualifications and skills of each of the current members, Maggio added.
Fantasia is a lifelong Winthrop resident and a nurse practitioner who has a PhD from Boston College.
“I currently work for the University of Massachusetts-Lowell as a professor and department chair for their school of nursing and I am honored to be here,” said Fantasia.
Stefano worked as a clerk for the board of health for about four years.
“I am a public school teacher and I am happy to be here,” said Stefano.
Maggio was a health and physical education teacher in the Winthrop schools for over 30 years, and served on the town council for six years.
“I have been a member of the board of health, off and on, probably for a total of 20 years,” said Maggio. “I worked as an assistant for the health department as an assistant – part time – for about three or four years many years ago. I also, 20 years ago, created the Medical Reserve Corps, which is a group of volunteers – both medical and everyday citizens – who have worked in Winthrop during emergencies, we open shelters when it has been called for, we worked in flu and Covid clinics, we’ve given presentations on emergency preparedness, we’ve made phone calls to senior citizens during Covid when they were isolated.”
Maggio praised the support the board of health has received over the years from health inspector and clerk Sharon Sicurella, the inspectional services department under Albert Legee, and the public health department under Meredith Hurley.
Hurley provided an update on recent and upcoming activity in the Winthrop Health Department, as well as its work as part of the North Suffolk Public Health Collaborative along with Chelsea and Revere.
One of the big upcoming events is Winthrop’s 5th Annual Recovery Community Event on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
“We start at town hall at 6 p.m. with some speaking and then we do the procession down Pauline Street and we are going to be in the (Old Middle School) gym again this year,” said Hurley. “We have done French Square before. Last year, because of the weather, we went into the gym, but we actually had a lot of feedback that people really liked the gym because it was more intimate and people were able to connect a little bit more.”
Hurley said anyone who has been affected by addiction or recovery is invited to speak at the event.
The health department is also working with several local coffee shops to provide them with coffee cup sleeves with information and statistics about the CLEAR (Community and Law Enforcement Assisted Recovery) program. The program works to help people seeking support, a path to recovery, and access to services for mental health and substance use disorders by connecting them to community-based service providers.