There’s one new face in town who says Wilton reminds him a lot of Jamaica.
Considering the island nation is the birthplace of Wilton’s new health director Barrington (Barry) A. Bogle, we might have to take his word for it.
“I’m from a very small community, and it’s like everyone knows everyone, and is concerned about the next person’s child, so when I got here it was comfortable. So I stayed. I did live in the Bronx, New York, and Massachusetts for a while but I never felt the same connection that I found here,” Bogle told GOOD Morning Wilton.
Officially, Bogle has been on the job heading Wilton’s Health Department since Oct. 15, bringing with him what first selectman Bill Brennan called “solid environmental health credentials”–Bogle’s resume lists his positions as assistant director of health in Darien and assistant sanitarian of Wilton after earning a masters degree in public health from Southern Connecticut State University.
In a press statement, Brennan said, “I have total confidence that Barry will be able to effectively navigate any public health challenges the Town will face in the coming years.”
The major issues that he said likely face Wilton are typical of small towns: the ability–or inability–of departments to communicate with the general public. When it comes to what he wants to do in Wilton at the helm of the health department to address that, Bogle has some specific ideas.
“One of the first things I want to do is update our website, to provide our residents with town information. I want our residents to be able to go online, to see what’s happening right now. In the Philippines with disease surveillance, what could impact us over time; if they have a question about obesity. I also want to look at alcoholism and drug abuse, those are issues that are of concern to me.”
Bogle is also eager to make the varied departments better connected and collaborative. Amongst the departments he’s eager to work with are Wilton Social Services and the Board of Education.
“I want to tie into social services. This morning I was working on a case that involves one of our vulnerable population, someone homebound and locked-in, who does have issues with access to healthcare and services. I want to create a connection and synergy between public health and social work. I want to have that buy-in with the Board of Education with our kids to be more aware of the dangers of drug abuse and how best we can approach it [together].”
Bogle is also eager to proceed with his take-charge stance.
“We’re in a public space where public health is reactive, and I want to be proactive. That means looking at emergency preparedness, working with Wilton’s CERT teams, assessing how functional the EOC [Emergency Operations Center] is, and get the residents tied in integrally with what the Health Department does. I want to have community activism a part of what we do, not just, ‘Fix me.’ But it’s about the community in general. I’m pretty sure our town residents want to ensure that Wilton is on the forefront of public health. There are groups and pockets all around and I just want to unify them.
Restaurants and School Cafeterias are Areas of Focus
One area Bogle has on his agenda, is restaurant cleanliness and health. “We are aiming for 100-percent compliance with all state codes, regulations and ordinances, and I’ve set the staff on this path. I intend to increase the number of inspections of every single facility. We’re not just going to stick with a Class I [CT Dept. of Public Health Food Service Protection Program] being inspected one time a year. We want to see what’s happening within the facilities. We’re not going to sit back and wait for someone to complain about food poisoning. I’m going to make sure that our facilities are clean, functional and the staff are well educated on food safety,” he said, adding, “One of my plans is to institute a Food Training Program for supervisors and workers in the food service industry so we do have a number of plans to come onboard quickly.”
Bogle includes in that oversight the desire to make sure the food service practices in the Wilton Public School‘s cafeterias are up to standard. “Most definitely–they are food service establishments. They may be under a different umbrella, in terms of who oversees them, but the regulations are the same in regards to them. We’re looking for qualified food operators (QFO’s). We’re ensuring that they are inspected on a regular basis, and we intend to ensure that they do stick to the code.”
He understands that parents are eager for this information. “We want to make sure that our residents are comfortable and they have some confidence in what their children are having in schools.”
Part of the “communicating with the public” efforts Bogle is so eager to implement, includes the ability for residents to access his department’s website in order to notify the department of complaints and also check to see how local businesses are complying with health codes. “You’ll be able to ask us what’s happening. It’s going to be interactive, so if there are issues, we want to know about them. We intend also to have quarterly reportings about what we’re doing so people get to see. It’s like a report card.”
As for what’s most challenging about the job he faces, Bogle said that a good health director needs to bring a wide breadth of experience as well as depth of knowledge to the job but he’s welcoming the chance to take that challenge on.
“We are charged with making sure the public’s health is in good standing. We deal with lead, radon, water, waste water, storm water, food service establishments, pandemics. When it comes to emergency preparedness, we’re an integral part of that. One may say we’re generalists in public health, because we cover a wide spectrum not only of disease surveillance and protection but also everyday health issues–tornadoes, storms, hazards that confront us.”
It’s an ever-changing field as well, and Bogle understands how his ability to keep up can impact the Wilton residents for whom he’s working .
“We’re constantly being updated with changes in the laws and ordinances, and things that are happening around the world. We’re all interconnected–what goes on in the Philippines [with the recent Typhoon Haiyan] will affect us here in some manner, for example. We’re tied into just about every facet of life.”