An experienced public health professional will be joining the Bedford Health Department as a part-time inspector, paid through a state grant.
Health and Human Services Director Heidi Porter introduced Ann Loree at Monday’s regular meeting of the Board of Health.
Loree, a former health director in Westminster, will have the title of regional health inspector. She is expected initially to conduct food and swimming pool inspections, Porter said, as the demand has outpaced the current departmental staff.
Those priorities could change after a few months; “our work is very cyclical,” the director said.
The new inspector’s affiliation is with a seven-town consortium that calls itself the Great Meadows Public Health Collaborative. Besides Bedford, other members are Carlisle, Concord, Lincoln, Sudbury, Wayland, and Weston.
Loree’s salary and benefits are awarded under the Public Health Excellence Grant Program of the state Department of Public Health. Those grants are made specifically to support cross-jurisdictional sharing, resulting in improved local public health capacity.
The new inspector told the board that she is meeting with health directors in the respective towns in the collaborative to identify specific needs, which she said vary from community to community.
The current grant is good for two years, Porter said, and state officials have told her renewal in three-year increments is likely if sought.
Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
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