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Montgomery health officer reports code-blue response, water-incident communication gaps and shrinking preparedness funding
Summary
Health Officer Devangi Patel told the Board of Health that Montgomery is in a county-declared code blue through Jan. 13, outlined how the township coordinates sheltering, described a recent water taste-and-odor incident that highlighted notification gaps with American Water and NJ agencies, and warned that COVID-era grants are expiring.
Health Officer Devangi Patel delivered an extended update to the Montgomery Township Board of Health on Jan. 8, reporting that Somerset County has activated 'code blue' through Jan. 13 and that the health department is coordinating placements and warming-center staffing for people in need.
"We are currently in code blue through January 13," Devangi said, describing how police, the county human-services system and 211 are used to identify and place people, and how the township opens warming centers when other resources are unavailable.
Board members pressed how individuals without phones are identified; Devangi said identification is often the result of concerned citizens and police outreach. She also said Montgomery does not routinely send Nixle alerts for code blue but that the department would coordinate with the police department to consider more proactive notifications.
Devangi described a recent chemical spill that produced taste-and-odor complaints for township residents and said American Water did not include Montgomery on distribution lists for community calls. "There was a delay in the notification of when that incident occurred to when, you know, the public-health officials found out about it and when the communities found out about it," she said, and added that county and state public-health leaders are working to identify gaps and update emergency-notification protocols.
She warned the board that major COVID-era funds and related stockpiles are expiring soon — some COVID funding lapses on June 30 and the public-health infrastructure grant expires in March 2026 — and that the department will need to replenish supplies and plan for lost grant-funded staffing. "All of our COVID stockpiles will need replenishment," she said, and noted many public-health tasks are still covered by grant-funded personnel.
Devangi also reviewed ongoing activities: three pet rabies clinics scheduled in January–March, partnership plans with the library for nutrition and safety programming, workforce-development trainings through local public-health associations, a completed food-insecurity needs assessment due for presentation to the board, and wastewater surveillance participation as an early-warning surveillance program.
Board members requested that state-level debriefs and any updated protocols from the upcoming meeting with NJDOH and NJDEP be reported back at the next board meeting.
