Who We Are & What We Do

About Us
The Charles River Public Health District (CRPHD or the Collaborative) is a cross-jurisdictional Public Health Shared Services Collaborative comprised of the towns of Needham, Dover, Medfield, and Sherborn. The CRPHD was initiated in 2021 and funded through the Public Health Excellence Grant administered by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. 

The CRPHD does not supplant any current public health staff or services already administered by the municipalities involved. Each town continues its own Health Department and Board of Health.

Mission & Vision

The Charles River Public Health District is designed to enhance public health services for the towns it serves by promoting effectiveness and efficiency through the pooling of shared resources. The main goals of the CRPHD are to improve local public health, increase staff capacity and expertise, and promote health equity across all four communities.

Benefits of Shared Services

• Identify ways to ensure that public health services in all communities are meeting the established performance standards
• Support existing Health Department staff in meeting statutory requirements (e.g. food inspections, Title 5)
• Encourage all public health staff to meet recommended and required training criteria and credentials
• Enable implementation of best practices across municipalities

CRPHD Staff

Kerry Dunnell, Manager of Shared Services

Jennifer Gangadharan, Regional Public Health Nurse

Jennifer Casey, Administrative Specialist

Advisory Board

The CRPHD Advisory Board is comprised of Board of Health or BOH-appointed members from Needham, Dover, Medfield, and Sherborn who vote on various subjects related to the operations of the Shared Service arrangement. Advisory Board meetings are also used to discuss current initiatives and other ways to improve the function of the CRPHD for each community. Agenda & Minutes for the Advisory Board meetings can be found here.