About Us:
MetroWest Shared Public Health Services (MWSPHS) was created through a grant from the state’s Public Health Excellence program. This grant gives an opportunity for improvement in local public health capacity and is an investment in providing core public health services to the community for the future of local public health in Massachusetts. MWSPHS is comprised of nine municipalities: Ashland, Framingham, Hopkinton, Hudson, Maynard, Medway, Milford, Millis and Natick. The main goal of MWSPHS is to collaboratively pool resources, increase staff capacity and expertise, attract additional funding and deliver better health protections, programs and outcomes.
In more recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed many challenges in local health departments across Massachusetts, but limited staffing has been a challenge for local public health throughout the state for quite some time. The idea of regionalizing ultimately means more capacity to provide high-quality programs and services to more towns. Now, as the Health Departments work to return to traditional services, shared services are available to provide that additional support to local health departments. Shared services such as MWSPHS can provide pandemic response activities (such as case investigation and tracing) while also helping to bolster essential core public health services in our communities such as inspections, health promotion, and immunizations.
For more information, view our one-pager.
Meet the team:
Casey Mellin
Regional Health Inspector
Edilane Silva
Regional Community Health Worker
Pooja Shelke
Regional Epidemiologist
Manizeh Afridi
Regional Epidemiologist
Thalita Campelo
Regional Health Communications Specialist
Bridget Hurley
Regional Public Health Nurse
Dashboard
Monthly Newsletter:
MetroWest Shared Public Health Services newsletter aims to highlight some current trends and hot topics in health. The newsletter includes: important health information, topics in the news, infectious disease trends and state wide training opportunities and reminders. Our goal is to use this as a way to share our work, current events, and communication tools (like social media posts and ideas/templates) to support public health messaging.
Events:
Childhood Vaccine Clinic
MetroWest Shared Public Health Services hosts weekly child vaccine clinics in partnership with the Ashland Board of Health. This regional clinic was created to provide vaccines required by the state for school aged children who are uninsured or underinsured. The town of Ashland’s nurse is present at every clinic to provide the following vaccines for children and teens: DTap, HPV9v, HepB, IPV (Inactive Polio Virus), MCv4 (Meningococcal), MMR, Td (Tetanus and Diphtheria), Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis) and Varicella. The MWSPHS' clinic has vaccinated over 100 children so far and is available to the following municipalities: Ashland, Framingham, Hopkinton, Hudson, Maynard, Milford, Millis and Natick. Our Community Health Worker is also available during clinics to translate (for Portuguese speakers) if needed, and to connect clients with resources. Please email or call us at: 508-733-3005 (for the nurse) or 978-875-5384 (for our Community Health Worker) for more information.
Moderna Booster Clinic
MWSPHS and the Ashland Health Department held Moderna vaccination clinics specifically for adults who are 50+ years old. Over 50+ adults have been vaccinated during these clinics.
Pfizer Peds Clinic:
In partnership with the Hopkinton Health Department, MWSPHS is hosting Pfizer booster vaccination clinics for children who are 5-11 and 12+ years old. The clinic has successfully provided vaccines for over 70 children!
COVID-19:
Isolation and Quarantine
Testing
Covid Vaccine
At Home Covid Test Kit Instructions
The level of Coronavirus in wastewater is the leading indicator of preceding a change in COVID-19 case count and hospitalization. Click here to find out the level of virus detected in your county.
To find out your community’s COVID-19 risk level, click here.
Monkeypox:
In the MetroWest area, Monkeypox is not currently widespread, but it continues to be monitored closely. It is important that people learn about transmission and symptoms, and how to prevent getting infected with Monkeypox.
Anyone that has been in close contact with a person that has been diagnosed with Monkeypox should call their primary care provider right away. Please remember to frequently wash your hands and avoid close contact with individuals who may have symptoms of Monkeypox, especially new rashes or sores.
Your local health departments and MWSPHS are working together to reach out to people who may have been exposed to Monkeypox and to provide resources for testing and vaccination. Please visit the CDC or Mass.gov for more information.
Monkeypox Infographics:
Click here to access a series of Monkeypox infographics. The intention of these documents is to inform the public about signs and symptoms, transmission and prevention about Monkeypox. If you are experiencing symptoms, please seek medical attention. Please note that this document was last revised on 7/29/2022 with the latest Monkeypox information attained from both the CDC and Mass.gov websites.