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Date: 2/7/2023
HADLEY — Food parasites and dangerous housing conditions were the topics of conversation at the Feb. 2 meeting of the Hadley Board of Health. Health inspector Ben Lipham gave the board a rundown of these issues and how they are being resolved. The board also made announcements regarding one town employee’s retirement, and the appointment of another.
An unsuspecting diner recently discovered parasites in their fish at a Hadley restaurant, the name of which was kept anonymous during the meeting. Lipham said that the diner consumed some of the fish prior to seeing the parasites, which, although this specific variety of parasite cannot reproduce inside the human body, could still cause infection and pose health risks for the consumer.
“We don’t know if they were infected but they found the parasite after consuming the fish...I followed up on that complaint, and did find that there were some deficiencies from a food safety perspective at that restaurant that, had they been followed, would not have resulted in that. The parasites that were in the fish cannot reproduce [inside our bodies after consumption], their life cycle is not naturally in us, but they can cause some damage,” Lipham said.
The parasite in question is common in raw fish but must be killed in some way prior to being served, whether raw or cooked. The restaurant failed to utilize the proper equipment to cook the fish sufficiently, and as a result failed to kill the parasite.
“[This parasite] was a parasitic worm that you commonly find in fish like cod or other fish like this. They’re not unusual, and actually it’s not against the rules of the food code to have them in raw fish. The issue is that you need to cook the fish or if it’s sushi there has to be a freezing procedure in place that kills the parasite. This was not raw fish, it was cooked, but the establishment did not cook the fish to a temperature that would kill the parasite. Had they had proper equipment and used it correctly, that would not have happened,” Lipham said.
Since inspection the restaurant has done its part to correct its mistake, and Lipham believed that the issue would not arise again.
“[The restaurant has] since been inspected and assured us that they do have the equipment, they do know how to use it, they got new food safety training…That was an issue that was found, we resolved it, and that establishment should no longer be doing that to the community anymore, so that’s a big win for us,” Lipham said.
Lipham mentioned an upcoming training session he was to attend on enforcing the new housing code which will take effect this spring. Following the training, he will attend a meeting regarding the creation of a new housing task force which Hadley residents have been requesting.
“I have a training next week for the new housing code, which goes into effect in April. That’s going to be put on by MHOA, which is the Major Health Officers Association, the biggest in Massachusetts…I’ll hopefully be able to be standardized as far as how that housing code is supposed to be enforced,” Lipham said. “Once I go to that training we have the following week a meeting for that housing task force that we’ve been talking about…Everybody in the town said they want it.”
An anonymous Hadley resident was found to be living in a heatless house that was dangerously exposed to the below freezing temperatures of the time of the meeting.
“We had a concern with a resident in Hadley that did not have heat, their house had holes in it, the interior was exposed to the elements, there is no utilities and there was also a boarding problem at that location. We were very concerned that the gentleman was going to be exposed to the extreme cold that’s coming in now as we speak,” Lipham said.
It took some convincing to get the resident to temporarily vacate his home, but finally he relented, a decision which most likely saved his life.
“He had been refusing to leave. We’ve been working with him on this for over a month. Luckily we did get him to agree to got a hotel at the very least, so far just voluntarily to get through this weekend…People can die from this kind of exposure. The fact that he’s not going to be exposed to that, to me feels good,” Lipham said.
Lipham made a point to thank the multiple town departments that collaborated to help the man into a safer space, and said that the goal is to repair the house and make it habitable again in a timely fashion.
“It was a large group of people in Hadley that got together, worked together and got us where we need to be. The Fire Department, Police Department, Building Department, the Council on Aging have all been very helpful and working together along with myself to help this gentleman out. Hopefully, the end result would be to get the house in safe condition – doesn’t have to be perfect, just safe – we’re hoping we can do that quickly so he can get back in his house,” Lipham said.
The board honored longtime Hadley Soil Evaluator Rich Wilga who is stepping down from the position, with board member Susan Mosler thanking him for his service.
“We would like to acknowledge Rich Wilga and his many, many years of service and devotion to the town of Hadley. We are all very appreciative and we will miss working with him,” Mosler said.
As Wilga steps down, Roxanne Dunn steps up to become the town’s RN, or registered nurse. Board member Margaret Mastrangelo introduced Dunn, listing her experience as evidence of Dunn’s qualification for the position, and welcoming Dunn aboard.
“We’ve got a great woman starting [the position]. She oversees a lot of ED departments and throughout the Valley has had different administrative positions, as well as being an ER nurse. She was interviewed, she was found to be a great candidate, she’s been hired and paperwork has been approved by HR ... She will start just halftime for the rest of February, then she will go to full time in March … Very happy about [her accepting the position,” Mastrangelo said.