Hanover’s MIH Program Collaborates with Hanover Public Schools to Successfully Complete Nearly 1,000 COVID-19 Tests
On Monday, September 14, 2020, the Town of Hanover’s Mobile Integrated Health Program completed a second round of COVID-19 testing for Hanover Public Schools and facilities employees. This second round was a follow up to a September 1st testing event that also included employees from Joseph Ingle Bus Company and faculty and staff of South Shore Technical High School. Utilizing a process that expedites results, it was determined that none of the nearly 1,000 tests performed came back positive. The pre-opening testing and screening was part of a larger and ongoing collaborative approach to the Town’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this case, leveraging the Mobile Integrated Health Program’s ability to plan and implement large scale testing in an effort to add another layer of health safety to our public schools.
Hanover Public Schools Superintendent Matthew Ferron said of the testing events: “The testing program conducted for our school and facilities employees is another example of the collaboration and innovation between the HFD and the HPS that has defined our approach to facing the pandemic head-on, and working to keep our community safe.”
Hanover’s Mobile Integrated Health Program (MIH) was created at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to provide in-home assessment, testing and follow up to residents of the community. The goal of the program was to keep residents from having to seek medical care at medical facilities thereby alleviating the strain on the health care system (at a time when capacity was and still remains a concern). The MIH program is a collaborative approach to providing health services to the community by bringing together multiple town agencies such as the Hanover Fire Department, Hanover Public Health, Hanover Visiting Nurse, Hanover Public Schools Health Services, Hanover Community Services, and the Hanover Police/Emergency Communications Center. The program was made possible by obtaining an Emergency Waiver from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in conjunction with South Shore Health System.
The pre-opening testing for faculty and staff that will be working and supporting the operation of public schools in Hanover was the culmination of nearly two months of planning and preparation by Hanover’s MIH team. Because of the volume of testing that would be performed, a bid was put out to seek third party assistance in obtaining testing supplies and providing a process that would turnaround results in a short time period. Working with Fallon Ambulance, the winning bid, Hanover’s MIH program operationalized plans and procedures that were ultimately approved by South Shore Health Systems before implementation. The testing brought together over thirty staff and volunteers of MIH and other agencies that systematically screened, registered, and tested patients during the two events.
The cost of providing this pre-opening testing is over $50,000 but through the utilization of federal CARES Act funds offered by Plymouth County, will have no impact on the taxpayers of Hanover. The ongoing success and collaboration of Hanover’s MIH Program combined with the success of this large scale testing operation pave the way for other innovative programs to be implemented in the near future that have the goal of providing health services to the community and supporting the continued and safe operation of public schools in Hanover.