When inside the City limits, residents can simply dial 311 to connect to any City department or service. The City Hall office that answers the line is known as Constituent Services. Not only will they connect you to the person you need, they also track calls to be sure they are handled promptly. Their web page also links to the answers to many commonly asked resident questions from street sweeping regulations to how to apply for the City's pharmacy discount card.
The 311 line is open 24 hours per day 7 days per week for urgent calls. All other calls should be made during City Hall office hours so that the department needed will be open. During business hours, TTY service and operators that speak Haitian Creole, Spanish or Portuguese are available.
The Natick Health Department offers information about food establishments, swimming pools, hazardous waste, tobacco control, septic system information, irrigation and flu clinics, among other entities.
Housed in its own building adjacent to Town Hall and the Pierce School, the Brookline Health Department provides a variety of services to ensure the health of people living and working in Brookline.
In addition to promoting healthy lifestyles through a variety of public-awareness initiatives, department staff are responsible for overseeing child-care providers, inspecting facilities that prepare and serve food, organizing immunization clinics and helping town departments prepare for the possibility of a public-health emergency.
Dr. Alan Balsam serves as the department's director.
The Framingham Board of Health is a three-member board appointed by the Board of Selectmen. It's located in the Memorial Building (also known as Framingham Town Hall). The board meets regularly. Its responsibilities include licenses, permits and inspections of restaurants, retail food stores, food events, milk and cream permits, tanning booths and beds, massages therapists and businesses, public swimming pools, tattoo establishments and more.
The board provides some health screenings through its clinic and medically-trained staff. It also holds various clinics at public locations throughout the year, such as flu shot clinics.
The Melrose Health Department -- more accurately the Melrose-Wakefield Health Department, since Melrose and Wakefield entered into an agreement in 2009 to share the department -- is managed by Director Ruth Clay. The department enforces health regulations in the city, issues health-related licenses and permits, and holds regular flu vaccination clinics during flu season.
The Board of Health and health department inspect Malden businesses and restaurants, making sure each establishment is in line with the health code and all applicable laws. Aside from food safety, the board also deals with sanitation and other health-related issues. The board has the power to shut down a business for violations of the health code, and stores data on its inspections at the office.
This three-member elected panel and the town's public health administrator are responsible for promoting public health, including disease prevention and environmental protection. It also administers certain permits and licenses and offers educational programs on a wide range of public health-related topics.