Board of Health Discusses Cutting Costs, Inspections and Vaccinations

Over half of the Westfield Board of Health’s May expenses went toward covering the costs owed to the Associated Humane Society for their services in dealing with stray and potentially dangerous animals.

The Board of Health, which operated in May on a budget of about $12,400, paid nearly $6,800 to the Associated Humane Society, according to their May budget readout, which was disclosed to the public at the board's meeting on Tuesday. This charge includes fees associated with the capture of animals that may be rabid or the quarantine of dogs after a bite-related incident.

Health Officer Megan Avallone said, “Any animal that looks like it could possibly
danger an individual, the municipality is required by law to pay for it.”

Avallone reported at the meeting that she met with country representatives to discuss the possibility of a county-wide initiative to create an animal control and shelter facility to help save costs.

The county identified that a place that could be suitable for such a facility is in
Scotch Plains near the Union County police academy. However, much of that land is
state owned and rented back to Union County, and the state refused to grant
approval to the county to erect the facility.

The Board also approved the Health Department and Vital Statistics Report, releasing the results of health inspections completed at restaurants and food vendors during the month of May.

All food vendors are inspected by the town annually, and follow-up inspections occur when needed.

Among the inspections conducted were walk-ins of Ferraro’s Pizzeria after it suffered a six-alarm fire in early May. Ferraro’s earned an unsatisfactory rating immediately following the fire on May 6th. Two weeks later, follow up walk-through inspections were conducted to ensure the remaining food was gone.

With the building lying dormant, Kenneth Pincus, the inspector for the Board of Health, said it was imperative to remove any food before animals found it.

During the follow up inspections, Pincus said the basement was under three feet of
water. It had to be pumped into a tanker truck before the inspection could take
place.

Laura Scanlon, the public health nursing supervisor, presented to the board the May edition of the Monthly Nursing Report. In the report, Scanlon reviewed audits
of child immunization facilities. She said there had been suspect cases of measles, although no actual cases.

Scanlon said many of the children with suspect cases of measles come from parents who chose to delay or withhold from vaccinations. She said that parents who keep their babies on organic and natural diets are often the ones not vaccinating their children on time.

One of the major concerns of abstaining from vaccinations is that if an individual
were to acquire measles—from Europe, perhaps—the state and federal government
would have to track down everyone who had been in contact with the patient and
quarantine those who were not vaccinated. The board stressed that vaccinations
benefit the population as much as they benefit the individual.