OUR TOWN

BOARD OF HEALTH
The Board must also uphold and achieve compliance with the Massachusetts Sanitary Code,
Minimum Standards of Fitness for Human Habitation. This program consists of responding to
complaints, issuance of orders or citing violations with a focus on unkempt property, housing
violations, rodent control issues, as well as investigations of any public health nuisance. The
Board of Health has investigated more than 133 housing and nuisance complaints, of which
agents have had to respond at least twice to each complaint, for the initial and then follow-up(s).
Regional Public Health Services:
In July 2011, the Town entered into a pilot agreement with the City of Worcester to provide
supervisory, policy and inspectional services on behalf of the Millbury Board of Health.
Simultaneously, the City of Worcester entered into similar inter-municipal agreements with the
towns of Shrewsbury and Leicester to begin formulating a regional public health district. These
successful collaborations demonstrated efficiencies in the public health system when like minded
communities work together towards a common goal. Larger public health systems (like what is
being created) have efficiencies of scale and are better staffed, resulting in better performance
and enhanced ability to address community health needs. Part of this past year’s regionalization
efforts were to continue to explore other municipalities that may be interested in these common
goals in order to increase these economies of scale.
Then in December 2011, the City of Worcester working in partnership with the towns of
Shrewsbury, Holden, Leicester, Millbury, and West Boylston was awarded a grant in the amount
of $325,000 over four years from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to advance its
ongoing regionalization efforts. Collectively, these Boards of Health will be known as the
Central Massachusetts Regional Public Health Alliance and will service a population of 265,899
residents.
This grant will allow the “Alliance” to provide a range of public health functions and services for
these six communities and to begin the development of a formal regional health department.
Goals of the Alliance are to establish an accredited public health department that demonstrates
cost-savings and efficiencies, and measures and monitors health status and risk to identify health
priorities. Additionally, these funds will be used to address gaps in the capacities of health
departments to protect and promote public health through food protection, sanitary code
enforcement, disease prevention and response, and policies and programs aimed at smoking,
obesity, health disparities, underage drinking, and other health threats.
Lastly, the Board is charged with enforcing various Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection Regulations such as Title V and CMR 310 which includes septic plan review, air,
water and noise nuisance control and hazardous materials control. Locally, there are numerous
Town by-laws and Board of Health Regulations that the Board must ensure compliance with
such as body art and tanning facilities.
The Board of Health upholds all code enforcements regarding TitleV.