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Revere Board of Health approves updated North Suffolk Public Health Collaborative intermunicipal agreement
Summary
The Revere Board of Health voted 3–0 to approve a new intermunicipal agreement that changes governance of the North Suffolk Public Health Collaborative, moves MAPC fees into a state grant, and requires board members to serve on the collaborative advisory board.
The Revere Board of Health voted unanimously to approve an updated intermunicipal agreement governing the North Suffolk Public Health Collaborative and authorized Chair Drew Bunker to sign the document on behalf of the board.
Lauren Buck, director of public health for Revere, explained the agreement implements governance changes required by the state’s Public Health Excellence grant. Under the new agreement, the collaborative’s advisory board must be composed of one board of health member from each participating community (Revere, Chelsea and Winthrop) rather than city executives, Buck said. The advisory board will meet regularly and will have final authority to vote on the collaborative’s annual grant budget.
Buck said the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) will continue to host and facilitate the collaborative and employ regionally funded staff, including an epidemiologist and a regional public health nurse. The regional nurse, Buck said, will split time across the three communities (two days in Revere, one day in Chelsea, one day in Winthrop) and runs the childhood immunization program.
A key financial change in the agreement is that MAPC’s fees and the cost of regional positions will be paid from the Public Health Excellence grant rather than each municipality appropriating the MAPC fee from local general funds. Buck described this as freeing local general‑fund dollars for other priorities and said the grant funding is expected to continue.
Buck said the agreement will be signed sequentially: the Revere Board of Health chair will sign, then the city mayor and the city solicitor. The board voted to approve the chair’s signature; the motion, mover and second were not specified in the record. The recorded vote was 3–0 in favor.
Why it matters: The agreement formalizes a governance structure linked to state grant requirements and centralizes grant‑funded regional services, including epidemiology and immunization support, under the collaborative.
