Town hires new health inspector amid CT shortage
NEW CANAAN — The local health department was fortunate to hire a new sanitarian since there has been a recent shortage of qualified candidates in Connecticut, an official said.
“There is a major health care shortage in Connecticut, especially registered sanitarians,” New Canaan Health Director Jenn Eielson told a committee of the Board of Finance last week.
Sanitarians inspect restaurants, salons, day care facilities and pools for cleanliness and safety.
The department recently hired a sanitarian from Ridgefield, Geno Gagnon, who has 24 years of experience and the required licenses to replace registered sanitarian Chris Wegrzyn. Wegrzyn left to work in Redding because he will have a shorter commute and a four-day work week, the director said.
The shortage in sanitarians and health directors, is “because of all of our degrees, licenses and certification, we’re just not getting another group to move up,“Eielson said. “Kids nowadays are not going to go into a field that’s not known to make money,”
To become a registered sanitarian, an individual needs a bachelor’s degree, two years of work experience before taking the required test and several certifications, including septic testing, food, lead and water testing.
As younger people are not seeking the jobs, older workers are retiring, “because COVID just kind of pushed everybody over the edge,” the director said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a recent study that interviewed public health workers found 40 percent of respondents intend to leave their jobs in the next five years and 51 percent cited the need for additional workers.
An additional 80,000 health care workers are needed nationally, according to research by the de Beaumont Foundation and the Public Health National Center for Innovations, a division of the Public Health Accreditation Board.
Online job sites show sanitarian positions are available in at least Westport, Seymour, Meriden, Hartford and South Windsor.
Eielson said the National Association of County Health Officials has been trying to address the shortage, and supported a bill, which will give $30 million toward a program to help public health workers repay their student loans after three years of work. This was part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was signed by President Joe Biden in December.
The New Canaan health department has various responsibilities, including their most visible one of addressing a pandemic, including conducting testing, contact tracing and vaccinations. The department also licenses and inspects restaurants, day care facilities, salons, public pools and septics. It enforces public health code and provides written comments for Planning and Zoning Commission applications for property on septic and commercial property regulated by the health department.
The tasks are increasing, according to Eielson. Local health departments are now also required to provide suicide prevention training to the community. She and another employee are receiving training to address the increase in mental health concerns for “another tool in the tool box,” during the mental health crisis.
There has also been an uptick in lead poisoning cases as a result of Connecticut statute, which lowered the threshold in which test results will trigger parental notification or home inspection.
So far in 2023, the department has seen 70 cases of lead poisoning, which is the number she usually sees in a year.
“It’s blowing up,” she said. The state law was designed to adjust Connecticut’s lead poisoning regulations for children under 6 to align with federal standards.