Jake Gardner, director of the Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment, and division leaders presented program updates Sept. 26 covering emergency preparedness, public health nursing, environmental health services, laboratory operations and wastewater/clean-water initiatives.

Public health and vaccination: Wendy Judd, public health nurse, said Barnstable County will host a COVID-19 and influenza clinic on Oct. 27 open to the public and county employees, and that the county will offer additional clinics across the region in October. “Barnstable County is hosting a COVID and flu clinic on October 27,” she said. Judd also outlined county plans to provide monkeypox and hepatitis A vaccines in partnership with the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod at Provincetown events and to expand diabetic A1c testing in collaboration with the Visiting Nurse Association.

Laboratory updates: Dan White, laboratory director, described new hires and equipment upgrades. The lab added a deputy director and new PFAS chemist, and is restoring in-house PFAS testing after a brief outsourcing gap. White said the lab received about 10,000 samples this summer, with over half from beach sampling: “We received 10,000 samples. Over half of those are from our beach sampling program,” he said. The lab is implementing an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICPOES) to replace older metals instrumentation, pursuing automated coliform methods for water-supplier compliance, and continuing work to implement a laboratory information management system (LIMS).

Well-study and environmental work: Erica Woods and other program leads reported the municipal well-sampling project is underway; the county lab has received about 72 of an expected 270 samples, and staff said it is too early to draw conclusions. The department is also continuing PFAS delineation work with MassDEP and other stakeholders.

Wastewater and Clean Water Center activity: Brian Baumgart, wastewater division director, described the newly rebranded MassTech Cape Cod Clean Water Center and several grants. Baumgart said the Cape Cod Aqua Fund — a county loan program using a $13 million Clean Water Trust loan — disbursed about $7.5 million in loans by the end of FY25 and about $2 million so far in the current year. He also described a Gates Foundation capacity-building grant of about $2,800,000 to support testing of non‑sewer sanitation systems and a $416,000 grant (complementing $250,000 from the town of Falmouth) to investigate urine-diversion technologies.

Septics and grants: Baumgart said the county’s septic utility program, funded in part by an EPA grant (about $1,230,000), is entering its third year; staff are helping towns evaluate on‑lot innovative/alternative technologies and building sustainable revenue and operations plans for the program.

Why it matters: The department’s work spans community health, environmental monitoring and infrastructure financing. Vaccine clinics and outreach are intended to improve community access to preventive care; lab upgrades and LIMS aim to speed and secure results for beaches, wells and public-water suppliers; and clean-water loans and grants support septic remediation and non‑sewer sanitation innovations on Cape Cod.

Next steps: County staff will continue clinic scheduling, finish LIMS integration and instrument certification, report well-study results once sample analysis is complete, and continue outreach tied to the facilities master plan and Clean Water Center projects.

Sources: Presentations and Q&A with Jake Gardner, Director, and division leaders Wendy Judd (Public Health Nursing), Dan White (Laboratory Director), Erica Woods (programs), and Brian Baumgart (Wastewater Division) during the Sept. 26, 2025 meeting of the Barnstable County Commissioners.