GREENFIELD — The city is working to restaff its Board of Health, which is now completely vacant after Dr. John Romano resigned as its chairperson last week.

Romano, the last sitting board member, said in an interview Monday that his resignation corresponded with his planned move to Northfield. Carrie Mimitz, a nurse with Greenfield’s public schools, resigned from her Board of Health role on July 23, citing conflicting commitments between her various roles in her letter of resignation.

“My other commitments at this time have become too great for me to put my full attention and requirements on the board,” Mimitz wrote. “I think resigning my seat to someone who has the energy and full commitment to the seat is the responsible action to take.”

Former Board of Health member Glen Ayers stepped away from the three-member board on April 8, citing conflict with the Health Department and Mayor’s Office as the primary reason for his resignation in a written statement sent to the Greenfield Recorder.

Matthew Conway, communications director for Mayor Ginny Desorgher’s office, said the Health Department has taken on many of the board’s day-to-day enforcement of health regulations as the city works to refill the board.

Desorgher’s appointment of Ahmad Esfahani to the board will go before City Council at its Aug. 21 meeting. Conway said that while Esfahani will likely be sworn in in September, the city is working to find health care professionals who can occupy the board.

“Filling the Board of Health vacancies is a crucial objective for the city. It’s very important not only to fill these positions, but to have people with public health experience, people with a background in the medical sphere. … Our office has already begun reaching out to some people around the community who are well-versed in the subject matter,” Conway said. “The Health Department is still very active with keeping up with regulations and things of this nature. So there is still an ability from the Health Department to step in and be a watchdog, someone for oversight, for any health-related dynamics.”

Health Director Michael Theroux could not be reached for comment after multiple requests.

Esfahani, who has held secretarial and administrative positions in New Hampshire, and most recently served as a Board of Health clerk in Buckland, said in an interview last month that he applied for the position after moving to Greenfield in March. He noted that although he does not have a medical degree, he has worked in both the mental health and criminal justice fields, at one point serving as a treatment court coordinator in Vermont.

In the event that City Council approves his appointment, Esfahani said he hopes to study mental health’s role in the various public health concerns the city faces.

“There definitely appears to be a direct impact of someone’s mental health on their physical health,” Esfahani said. “I’m interested in just having that conversation, or at least including that conversation in the way we approach public health. ... Many communities in the area are recovering from the opioid epidemic and substance use. I’m interested in trying to understand that with more of a holistic mental health versus a straight criminal justice lens.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.