Franklin health department seeks Level 3 designation; board forwards draft annual report to city council

The Franklin City Board of Health voted unanimously April 14 to forward a draft of the Franklin Health Departmentannual report to the city council and discussed preparations for a state DHS 140 review that would seek Level 3 public health designation.

Board Chair Henry Wojlowski opened discussion of the departmentannual report and said the draft will be presented to the city council at its next meeting. Health Officer Lauren Gottlieb told the board the department will undergo the DHS 140 review "the second week in May" and that the department has decided to apply for Level 3 status.

The board heard that Level 3 reflects a broader environmental health program, the departmentnew public health strategist role and the departmentongoing role as a convener in the community health assessment process. "We don't see this as an increase in our workload because we've been operating in this structure for a a couple years now," Gottlieb said.

Gottlieb and board members discussed funding implications and timing; Gottlieb said there is no direct cost to applying and that Level 3 status may increase grant award funding under complex state formulas. She also said the review now focuses on narrative descriptions of services and outcomes rather than tallying discrete items.

The board approved two routine procedural items at the start of the meeting: minutes from the Jan. 13 meeting and, later, a motion to adjourn. The principal formal action was the unanimous vote to forward the annual report draft to council.

Votes at a glance: - Approval of minutes from Jan. 13, 2025: motion made and seconded; outcome recorded as unanimous approval (individual roll-call not recorded in transcript). - Forward draft Franklin Health Department annual report to city council (next council meeting): motion put to a voice vote and recorded as unanimous approval. - Motion to adjourn: moved and seconded; outcome recorded as unanimous.

The department noted the annual report presented a year-in-review of services including communicable disease follow-up, environmental health inspections, maternal and child health programming, community health assessment work and volunteer contributions. The report is still a draft and will be finalized after the council presentation and minor pagination edits requested by staff.

Board members and staff said Henry Wojlowski plans to sit in on the May DHS 140 review and that department staff will come in and out of the review as needed to answer questions. The board did not adopt new policy at the meeting; the actions were procedural approvals to forward the draft report and to close the meeting.

The board's next steps: finalize the annual report for the city council presentation and participate in the DHS 140 Level 3 review in May.