Dover Board of Health Demands Nursing Overhaul at Camp Grossman After Overdose

DOVER — August 19, 2025 — Dover Board of Health orders Camp Grossman to overhaul nursing oversight after a camper overdosed on unsupervised laxatives this summer. At an August 19 video hearing, Chair Kay Peterson and members John Quackenbush and Steven Krescall pressed JCC Greater Boston — which operates the 800-camper-per-day camp in Dover — on a string of medication failures, including a nurse who sent a child's loose laxatives home in a backpack without parental notice or documentation, leading to an overdose. Health Director Jason Balante described a July 30 corrective-action meeting with camp leadership that was followed the very next day by a separate incident involving the same family. Camp Director Leslie Hawkstein confirmed the nurse responsible will not return and outlined revised medication-logging and protocol procedures already in place; Krescall called for an independent specialty organization to audit medication administration procedures and share findings with the board before the 2026 season. The board also voted 3-0 to support the town's MBTA Communities Act overlay district bylaw and urge a yes vote at Dover's September 29 special town meeting.