On the third floor of the Montclair Municipal Building, at 205 Claremont Avenue, the Department of Health and Human Services is bustling with activities. Amy Monaco, the health director for the town, was hired in March and has a career in public health spanning over 20 years.
Monaco oversees the department that includes social work, public health nursing, environmental health and animal control and sheltering divisions. Every room in the health department is used for services to help the people of Montclair. Down the hall, there is a room dedicated to nursing mothers; near the kitchen is a vaccine refrigerator. In a room adjacent to Monaco’s office, the Montclair Ambulance Unit teaches a recertification CPR class to the town’s public health nurses.
The Montclair Department of Health and Human Services works all year to maintain the quality of life for residents. A few of the services the department provides are free vaccinations for children through New Jersey’s VFC program or home visits for seniors who want their COVID-19 and flu vaccines. Even if you aren’t sick or in need, you’ve experienced the work of the department when dining in Montclair. Two health inspectors are responsible for ensuring everything is up to code at Montclair’s dozens of restaurants. They’re accountable for confirming some of your favorite eateries use the correct temperatures and food preparation tactics. “When you go into a restaurant and see ‘satisfactory’ or ‘conditional,’ that’s us,” Monaco said.
Not only does the health department track patterns in viruses through contact tracing, but they also work alongside the Montclair Ambulance Unit to track center mental health crises that may be happening. Monaco said that one of the issues starting to become prevalent in town is hoarding amongst the senior population. Soon, with the help of senior services and the social worker, there will be a hoarding task force to address the issue. “True hoarding is not just about wanting to save your favorite coins. These are random stuff that people are keeping,” Monaco said. According to the Mayo Clinic, people don’t seek treatment for a hoarding disorder but rather for depression, anxiety or relationship problems. With the hoarding task force, a social worker will be able to help the individual get to the root of the problem that causes them to hoard.
Whether it’s through periodic community blood pressure screenings or immunization clinics held on the first and third Tuesday of every month, Monaco strives to prioritize health education and awareness. One of the ways the department intends to educate the community is by holding training sessions. More recently, they started circulating a survey to the town for input on opioid education programming. One of the first initiatives will be holding NARCAN® training and placing overdose kits near AED boxes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported nearly 40% of overdose deaths occur with a bystander present. As the Montclair Department of Health works to prevent overdoses, the need for it in town is increasing. From January 2020 to May 2020, the Montclair Police Department responded to 17 suspected overdoses.
Ultimately, the Montclair Health Department aims to serve all. As they continue to create programming to aid and educate, Monaco and her team are working to reach residents in a variety of ways. They have a monthly newsletter available in their office for anyone to take and they plan to become active on social media soon.
For more information on the department’s services or how to set up an immunization appointment, visit here.