Have you taken the Creating a Healthier Marblehead survey yet?
If not, time is running out.
The window to respond to the survey will close in about 10 days, Board of Health Chairman Dr. Thomas Massaro reports.
Here’s why we think you should find time within that span to answer the series of questions.
First, while it has become fashionable to complain that elected officials are out of touch and unresponsive to their constituents, this stands as a counterexample. Our Board of Health is not just asking “what do you need?” but seeking to drill down to understand the depth of those needs.
“We are asking residents what they think so we can respond to issues that matter to them,” Massaro tells the Current.
Robust data on what the town wants and needs can help guide decision making for years to come, Massaro has explained.
Massaro, a retired pediatrician and University of Virginia faculty member who worked as the chief medical officer in the New Mexico Department of Health during COVID, noted how public health officials lost trust during the pandemic. Concerns about school and business closures and mask mandates often fell on deaf ears.
“Most of us who had some responsibility during that time know in retrospect that mistakes were made,” he says.
By asking about the town’s priorities proactively, the board hopes to minimize potential incorrect assumptions in the future, Massaro says.
For as long as most can remember, Massachusetts residents have enjoyed access to what is widely considered the best healthcare delivery system in the country, Massaro notes.
When he first got elected, Massaro met with state Rep. Jenny Armini and state Sen. Brendan Crighton. Both told him they had never had a single constituent ask them to prioritize strengthening public health.
“That may change,” he says.
Healthcare is only getting more expensive, federal support is less certain, and there is a major shortage of primary care physicians, Massaro notes.
“Strong and well-managed public health cannot replace primary care physicians, but anyone who has lived or worked in other countries knows it can make primary care more efficient and cost effective,” says Massaro, the founding dean of the University of Botswana School of Medicine.
A robust response to the survey will help local health officials be better partners to front-line providers, Massaro believes.
Upon being elected, Massaro also visited local pediatrics offices and was told he was the first Board of Health member to reach out and ask how the board might be able to help them care for their patients, he says.
“Results from the survey may provide insight into how we can work better together,” Massaro says.
Private equity is also exerting more influence on healthcare organizations, which Massaro calls “perhaps the most destructive health issue in health care today.” The failure of Steward Health is a prominent local example.
By contrast, public health is concerned about wellness, not return on investment, Massaro notes.
“Having more people complete the survey provides greater statistical legitimacy to our attempt at promoting wellness locally and beyond,” he says.
Massaro, the Board of Health and the CAHM team he has assembled have done the town a great service in marshaling the resources to make the CAHM survey possible. They got buy-in — literally — from both of the town’s Rotary Clubs, the Marblehead Female Humane Society and the Mariner, ensuring that no tax dollars would be spent on this effort. That organizations with a history of supporting the town’s wellness found this project to be a worthy investment speaks to its potential value.
He also connected with a team at UMass-Boston with a ton of experience conducting similar assessments. Salem and Swampscott are just two of the 80 cities and towns with which it has worked. Residents can be confident that individual responses will remain anonymous, given the team’s well-developed protocols.
In other communities, those assessments have identified a variety of needs. What will they be in Marblehead? Support for substance use and mental health issues? A teen center? Better sidewalks? More affordable housing?
There’s only one way to find out, and it starts with you completing the survey.
We urge you to seek out the CAHM survey today and to respond as openly and honestly as possible.
The Current Editorial Board
The members of the Current’seditorial board are Bob Peck, chairman of the Current; Virginia Buckingham, president of the Current's board of directors; board member Brian Birke, Current editorial staff member Kris Olson, and Joseph P. Kahn, a retired Boston Globe journalist.
