Amid ongoing funding concerns for the town’s public health nurse position, Board of Health Member Helen Tieger said at Wednesday night’s meeting that Neia Illingworth has resigned from the role.
Public health nurses typically oversee health education, disease prevention, and wellness initiatives within the community. They collaborate with key community members, such as the school, public safety officials and other partners. The position was first put at risk last summer after voters approved a town budget at the May Town Meeting that reduced funding for the role. On December 17, Director of Public Health Jeff Vaughan announced that the public health nurse position was once again in jeopardy of being eliminated.
“It concerns me that we don’t have any direction on what the timing is going to be with the position,” Tieger said Wednesday.
Over the summer, the Board of Health said members felt blindsided by the decision to eliminate the nurse position. Select Board Chair Katie Phelan had told the board that “through the budget process, there were conversations about cuts to a myriad of potential individual departments.”
Vaughan said in December that the public health nurse position was funded through February 28.
Swampscott established its full-time public health nurse position in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaughan said Town Administrator Nick Connors may pursue a return to a part-time position, as the town had prior to 2020.
“I will let you know as soon as I know,” Vaughan said. “I’m waiting to get a little more of an update from our town administrator at this point.
In the meantime, Vaughan said the town is using the Regional Public Health Excellence Group to address communicable disease issues.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Swampscott has recorded 328.7 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents this season, equating to approximately 50 cases between June 29 and January 10.
Influenza activity in the region, however, is “very high,” according to the state Department of Public Health, and it appears to have peaked earlier this season than in 2024–25.
The Regional Public Health Excellence Group pools resources for shared public health services, data analysis, program implementation and local health initiatives. In addition to Swampscott, the group includes Nahant, Marblehead, Salem, Beverly and Peabody.
