Templeton Hires New Health Agent

Templeton Hires New Health Agent
Rebecca Leonard
News Correspondent

TEMPLETON — Almost a month after the former health agent left, the town has hired a new one to fill the 35-hour position.

“She’s fully qualified to do everything that the Health Department requires,” stated interim Town Administrator Bob Markel.

Laurie Wiita’s first day as health agent was Monday and she’s already started digging in to the backlog of work that needs to get done.

“I think for any health agent, coming into an office and picking up where someone left off is a lot of work,” said Ms. Wiita.

Ms. Wiita isn’t a stranger to Templeton or the Board of Health office – she worked as administrative assistant for five years. After leaving Templeton, Ms. Wiita became the assistant health agent in Athol for three years.

“It feels like I’m coming home,” she said.

Mr. Markel expressed how hard it was to find someone to fill the position as most people are looking for a full-time position.

Although the position is 35 hours, Ms. Wiita said she doesn’t have a problem with it. She explained that it’s enough hours, but wouldn’t want to see it any lower because there is a lot of work to do.

Former Health Agent Phil Leger’s last day was July 31, however, he has been returning as the town needed him to take care of important business while Mr. Markel searched for someone new.

“There was a long-running controversy when we had to cut hours during the financial crisis. We had to cut his hours from 40 to 19,” explained Mr. Markel.

During the crisis, the department faced a 35 percent cut to its budget. Mr. Leger had expressed to selectmen that he could hardly perform mandated inspections on schools and businesses, and that septic and building inspections had been severely delayed.

When the board approved the 35-hour week, Mr. Leger had already looked elsewhere for employment, but gave them enough notice of his departure for them to advertise the position and hold interviews.

“It was a priority for me to make sure the departments were adequately staffed,” said Mr. Markel.

The town has seen more additions being built on older homes recently and these additions need to be inspected. Mr. Markel said that as the economy picks up, there’s going to be an increase in this type of work.