LYNN — The Board of Health discussed how to care for the influx of Haitian migrants in the city at its meeting.
“One of the things that has come up, at least on the state level, and we’re affected here too, is the issue of migrants that are around at least in Lynn and Centerboard shelters,” Board member Dr. Clark Van Den Berghe said.
He said at the clinic where he works, Lynn Community Health Center, he interacts mostly with pregnant migrants because they “are people that can actually get in,” but they often come to appointments with other children and the father of their children as well.
Aside from the mothers, he said, the clinic does not have the capacity to take care of the rest of the families right now.
Dr. Van Den Berghe said the clinic assists mothers before and after they give birth and their infants.
“They’re here and they have very little access to help at all,” Dr. Van Den Berghe said.
Public Health Director Lisa Tobin and Board member Rocio Mora discussed ways to distribute resources and how the city can support Haitian migrants.
Mora said Centerboard has a “lot of resources” for migrants.
“Do you guys know where Centerboard is (housing) them, because they had specifically said to me that they were not putting folks really in Lynn?” Tobin asked.
The members of the board were not able to answer her question.
Tobin added that Centerboard had been using the dorms at Salem State University to house the “majority of folks.”
Dr. Van Den Berghe said the majority of the patients he sees say that they live in Lynn, and that he is trying to get his health center to do outreach at places like health fairs where migrants can be triaged, so the center can prioritize treating them earlier.
“Many of them are young and healthy, so that’s great, but they may have something that they can’t get in,” he said.
Dr. Van Den Berghe said he was specifically thinking of hosting an event at the Holiday Inn in Peabody for screening labs, vaccines, and blood-pressure checks.
Tobin said she was going to reach out to Centerboard to ask how many Haitian migrants can be identified in the city as the first stage in the board’s planning process.
“We know they are here, but we don’t know how many of them are in Lynn,” Dr. Van Den Berghe said.
According to a WBUR article published in February, “since 2022, thousands of Haitian immigrants have arrived in the state seeking work and a place to settle with their families. The Immigrant Family Services Institute, a nonprofit in Boston, estimates it has assisted some 14,000 new Haitian immigrants in the past two years.”
Valerie Vong, the communications and strategic initiatives manager for Mayor Jared Nicholson’s office, said there has been an increase in Haitian migrants in the city, but the mayor’s office does not have an exact number at this time.
