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Vol. 20, No. 16
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Friday, April 20, 2018
Malden High School recognized City Council takes new direction in Malden hospital site debate nationally for outstanding want an opportunity to explain though Hallmark Health did By Barbara Taormina the community’s concerns not respond to a similar reenvironmental leadership he City Council agreed this about traffic and density asso- quest for a meeting proposed Honorees from across the nation and globe attend State House ceremony
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week to reach out to Hallmark Health with the hope of launching a discussion about the future of the former Malden Hospital site. Ward 3 Councillor John Matheson, who heads up the Malden Hospital Site Redevelopment Ad Hoc Committee, drafted a letter to Hallmark Health and Wellforce, Hallmark’s parent company, asking officials to meet with the council. Councillors
ciated with Fellsmere Housing Group’s proposal to build 214 condos, 18 town houses and 18 single-family homes at the former hospital site. Matheson said the ad hoc committee voted to send the letter in the hope of finding some common ground with Hallmark Health/Wellforce that would balance the interests of the company with the needs and concerns of residents. Al-
by Matheson and State Senator Jason Lewis back in 2016, the council voted to have the city solicitor review the letter and to drop it in the mail. The decision to contact Hallmark Health came after Councillor-at-Large Craig Spadafora made the case for having the Fellsmere Housing Group and the Friends of Fellsmere
HOSPITAL | SEE PAGE 9
Finance Committee considers expanding health care at Malden High School By Barbara Taormina tudents may soon have more access and options for health care through the Starr Wellness Center at Malden High. The City Council’s Finance Committee is reviewing a proposal to use $50,000 from Malden’s Community Development Block Grant to build and equip a room for the Starr Center, which currently operates out of the nurse’s office on Monday afternoons and Wednesday mornings. Cambridge Health Alliance would be responsible for managing the expanded student health center with the help of an annual $100,000 grant from the state’s Department of Public Health. Finance Committee members agreed that that an expanded school-based health
S MHS teachers Chris Bazzinotti, State Rep. Steve Ultrino, Interim MHS Principal Christopher Mastrangelo, Malden Public Schools Director of STEM K-12 Dr. Douglas Dias, and and MPS’ Transition Coordinator Kelli Collomb are shown at the state house during the Project Green Schools’ Green Difference Awards shortly after being receiving with the Outstanding Commitment to Greenovation award for its Learn and Earn program.
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n April 13, Malden High School was recognized at the State House by Project Green Schools during the nonprofit organization’s Annual Green Difference Awards ceremony recognizing Outstanding National Environmental Education & STEM Education efforts in schools and communities across the nation. The Green Difference Awards honored principals, teachers, advisors, citizens, schools, students and school groups/clubs from 12 states and the District of
Columbia, as well as honorees from India, Singapore, Nigeria and Morocco. Malden High School was recognized with the Outstanding Commitment to Greenovation award for its Learn and Earn program. “Malden students have shown us in so many ways that they are both our present and our future,� said State Representative Steve Ultrino (D-Malden). “This national recognition affirms the leadership of Mal-
PROJECT | SEE PAGE 4
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center is a worthwhile proposal that would provide needed health care services to students. However, they raised questions about the funding for the center, potential costs to the city and liability in the case of possible malpractice. Maria Luise, special assistant to Mayor Gary Christenson, explained that other than the $50,000 to build out the center, the city would have no obligations to fund its operations. In addition to the state grant, the center would bill MassHealth for services for students who are covered by
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the state’s health care program. A safety net program would pick up some of the cost for services for students who have no health care insurance. Students covered under private insurance can still see a doctor through the Starr Center, but there will be no billing since those visits typically require a referral. “A lot of the services will be focused on mental health,� Luise told the committee. According to a School Department presentation from 2015, sports physicals were
STARR | SEE PAGE 9
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