CITY LAUDED FOR HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Newtown
Boston Globe
August 10, 2009 03:12 PM

The National Association of County and City Health Officials has
awarded Newton’s Department of Health and Human Services a "Model
Practice Award" for its role in an intermunicipal flu clinic.

Newton worked with Arlington, Belmont, Brookline, and Watertown
to carry out large-scale flu clinics, and was selected among 116
applicants for the award. According to Mayor David Cohen, the five
communities tested emergency preparedness plans and each clinic was
evaluated for improvements that could be made in other later clinics.

The Model Practice Awards are used to showcase models that try to
learn from colleagues’ experiences and to ensure that resources are
used wisely on effective programs that have been implemented with
good results.

David Naparstek, the commissioner of Newton’s Health and Human
Services, said new and easy-to-understand signs and uniforms have
helped make the clinics run more smoothly.

"We have a better ability to work together and know what our
responsibilities are and for everyone to get where they should be,"
he said, noting that the signs comes in many languages from English
to Russian to Chinese to Armenian.
From: Baghdasarian