

NORTHBOROUGH – After serving as the interim Health Director, Isabella Caruso now sits at the helm of the new combined Health and Human Services Department.
Caruso began working with the town as a part-time epidemiologist, and over the years, she became a full-time employee and took on the role of a shared services coordinator, whose role is to manage the Public Health Excellence grant award. She became the interim health director following the departure of Kristin Black in December.
Now, about six months later, Caruso has officially become the director of the new combined Health and Human Services department.
“I’m really excited to lead and build this department. We worked really hard to get this established, and we’re excited to see the benefit of a more collaborative department,” she said.
When Town Administrator Tim McInerney joined Northborough, Black and interim Town Administrator Mike Gallagher requested that the town move forward with a study to examine a model to merge the Health Department and Northborough Family and Youth Services. The Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission developed a structure for the department that would be led by the director with nine supporting roles.
In the spring, Town Meeting approved a series of articles, leading the establishment of the department.
According to Caruso, the goal over the coming weeks was to post a job listing for a full-time social worker.
“We really need to get some mental health support in our office,” she said.
Additionally, Caruso and the staff will be working to create the department’s goals and mission and vision statements to make sure they are all on the same page on how they want to be portrayed. The department is also working on creating a logo in addition to filling several other positions.
“We’ll really be creating a collaborative team,” she said. “It’s honestly great that they’re going to be hired around a few months of each other because we can build that together. We have a great foundation, but we’re excited to expand our services and reach.”
In addition to being fully-staffed, Caruso said she was looking forward to increase awareness of the department, tackling smaller tasks like revamping the website and being a “more inclusive” department.
“We’ll meet the seniors where they’re at and collaborate with the Senior Center so it’s this whole spectrum of ages, identities and all of that,” Caruso said.
She’s also excited to explore opportunities for new things, such as maternal health programming or social support groups.
“The collaborative nature really excites me,” said Caruso.