The Plymouth Board of Health convened on December 3, 2025, to review a groundbreaking community health assessment (CHA), the first of its kind in the town's history. Commissioner Michelle Brady introduced consultants from Health Resources and Action (HRIA), emphasizing that the town of Plymouth has never done such an assessment in its 400-year history. Heather Nelson of HRIA explained that the organization’s vision is really doing work to make sure that we have healthy people thriving in an equitable and just communities. Kevin Seir provided a demographic breakdown of the 779 English language surveys received so far, prompting student representative Madison Mack to observe, I was a little bit like not surprised but yeah like surprised about the fact that there was less than 1% seasonal workers in the results. Board members expressed concerns about the survey's current tilt toward older, affluent residents. Karen Keane noted the difficulty this poses for funding, stating, It's just for me it's quite interesting um to see the um demographics so far of who's answered the survey um because those answers um make it sometimes very difficult for us to obtain grants.

Addressing the survey gaps, Assistant Commissioner Emily Wilson highlighted the importance of community voices, noting, We want to hear that directly from people and just maximize, you know, as much participation as possible. The board also received a sobering update on the Public Health Excellence grant and regional hiring struggles. Barry Potvin described the challenges of retaining specialized staff, explaining that the grant can't afford that kind of compensation required to compete with private hospitals for public health nurses. Teri Reid cautioned against using inexperienced staff for such complex outreach, remarking, These people that work out in the community have way more autonomy and need a depth of knowledge and experience that you don't get right out of nursing school. Amidst these staffing hurdles, the board continues to draft a structure for a new Public Health Advisory Council to increase citizen advocacy and establish new partnerships.

Public safety concerns dominated the latter half of the meeting, specifically regarding the regulation of Kratom and radioactive water at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant. During public comment, John Shinler suggested a middle-ground approach for Kratom sales, stating, I think doing a warning or a permit where you got to have a license to sell it in one of the stores... that's an idea. Amy Palmer signaled a desire for stricter town oversight on synthetic versions of the product, saying, I definitely feel like the 70 is a dangerous chemical that we as the board would need to you know I would feel comfortable regulating that. Lorenzo Pizarro reminded the board of their specific influence, stating, I know from the board of health um our lever is policy and regulation. Regarding the nuclear plant, Potvin warned of risks associated with heaters reactivated in the spent fuel pool, noting that evaporating radioactively containing water in the presence of people who are working in the same building is a potential hazard.