Page 2 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2022 Introducing Lauren Buck in her New Position as Chief of Health and Human Services A drienne Sacco-Maguire Starts New Role as Emergency Preparedness Manager, Following Career as Nurse at Revere Public Schools REVERE – Residents may remember Lauren Buck for her role as Director of Public Health throughout the COVID pandemic. In September of 2022, Lauren Buck was voted unanimously in her promotion as Chief of Health and Human Services. As the Chief of Health and Human Services, Buck is responsible for directly supporting 8 departments and commissions including Elderly Services, the Department of Public Health, Community Health and Engagement, SUDHI, Veterans Services, Consumer Aff airs, the Human Rights Commission, and the North Suffolk Public Health Collaborative. The chief position is responsible for managing over 40 full time and part time employees and managing nearly $4 million dollars annually in revenues and expenses over all HHS departments. Lauren will be the third to serve as the Chief of Health and Human Services for the City of Revere, following Kim Hanton who now serves as Mayor Arrigo’s Chief of Staff and Dr. Nathalee Kong. The Emergency Preparedness Manager is a new role in Health and Human Services – and Adrienne Sacco-Maguire, active community member and Beachmont resident, has already started getting to work in this role at the Board of Health. The Mayor’s Office sat down with Chief Buck and Adrienne Sacco-Maguire to learn more about their vision for the department and the importance of the new emergency position. INTERVIEWER: Lauren, what do you see as your priorities as Chief of Health and Human Services? BUCK: In the past I feel like the public health department has kind of been like siloed off of, you know, City Hall. Public Health wasn't really in integral, but now, especially now that Covid happened it touches on evAdrienne Sacco-Maguire, left, and Lauren Buck erything. I think in general the goal of the Public Health Department over the next couple years is just to continue building relationships that we've built over Covid. The important aspect is to continue being eff ective in communication and getting word our to the community. I don’t think anyone has cracked the code on it just yet, but it’s an important aspect of our work and something we’re always trying to improve. The relationships we’ve built over Covid was important and connected us with departments we wouldn’t normally work with. For example, we continue to work with Donny in Water and Sewer with wastewater studies, and we are constantly reaching out to the Department of Planning and Community Development for all things housing. In a sense, it was important Covid happened because it made other departments realize we are here, and we’re ready to work in whatever capacity that holds. Because Health and Human services are, at its’ simplest form, integral to every department in the City of Revere. I think there are overarching issues that all departments deal with… Housing and homelessness is one of them. It’s something that touches Veterans Affairs, Elder Aff airs, Community Outreach, and SUDHI. It’s just getting us all to be working together and knowledgeable about what each department's doing on those big issues so we can be more eff ective. It’s a matter of bringing Public Health to the forefront of the issues we’re facing in Revere, and asking “how can we be a part of this?” More often than not, it’s important to have Health and Human Services at the table for a variety of reasons, and that’s something I don’t think we connected to prior to COVID. INTERVIEWER: What is your new role as Emergency Preparedness Manager? Why is this position so important? MAGUIRE: The position certainly came out of seeing the need for more coordination with emergency services. Emergencies always happened and maybe we could have been more prepared for some of them, but what that showed us was that it’s clear there needed to be more communication with diff erent departments like Fire and Police and SUDHI and Liaisons to have a more coordinated effort with solutions. The role is important because if there is an emergency like a fi re, or even a pandemic, you know who to call. It can be for things as big as a pandemic, but it can also be a really hot summer day or cold winter. Emergencies are inevitable. But being prepared for them can, in turn, lessen the diffi culty they bring on our city. INTERVIEWER: Adrienne, NURSE | SEE Page 17
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