Board of Health Minutes 8 February 8, 2016

Ottawa
Board of Health
MINUTES 8
Monday,
February 8, 2016, 5:00 PM
Champlain Room, 110 Laurier Avenue West
Contact
for the Ottawa Board of Health:
Gillian
Connelly, Board of Health Secretary
613-580-2424, ext. 21544
[email protected]
Board
Members:
Chair: S. Qadri
Vice-Chair: J. Poirier
Members: D. Chernushenko, M. Fleury, A. Kapur, L. Leikin, C. McKenney, S.
Pinel, M. Qaqish, M. Taylor, P. Tilley
The
Ottawa Board of Health met in the Champlain Room, 110 Laurier Avenue West,
Ottawa, on Monday, February 8, 2016 beginning at 5:00 p.m.
The
Chair, Shad Qadri, presided over the meeting.
Please note that the order of business for the meeting has been varied to deal with
the Report - Confirmation of the Chair and Vice-Chair at the outset.
ROLL CALL
|
Vice-Chair Poirier and Member Tilley
were absent from the meeting.
|
REGRETS
|
Vice-Chair Poirier and Member Tilley
sent their regrets.
|
MOTION TO INTRODUCE REPORTS
|
|
Motion 08/01
Moved by Member Qaqish
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Confirmation
of the Chair and Vice-Chair report; Chair of the Board of Health Verbal Report;
Medical Officer of Health Verbal Report; Making Healthy Eating and Active
Living the Easy Choice report; Towards Better Outcomes for Communities and
Patients: Protecting and Leveraging Public Health in Ontario’s Proposed
Health System Transformation report; Healthy Start: Part 3 – Toddler /
Preschool Health report; Ottawa Public Health’s Activities to Support Syrian
Refugees in Ottawa report; and, Attendance at the Association of Local Public
Health Agencies’ (alPHa) 2016 Board of Health Winter Symposium report be
received and considered.
|
|
CARRIED
|
|
|
1.
|
CONFIRMATION
OF THE CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR
|
|
ACS2016-OPH-SSB-0001
|
|
That the Board of Health for the
City of Ottawa Health Unit:
1. Confirm the election of
Councillor Shad Qadri as Chair for 2016, to be confirmed at the first meeting
of each year of its term as required by the Health Protection and
Promotion Act; and,
2.
Confirm
the election of Member Jo-Anne Poirier as Vice-Chair for 2016, to be
confirmed at the first meeting of each year of its term as required by the Health
Protection and Promotion Act.
|
|
Pursuant to section 5(2) of the Procedure By-law,
the Board Secretary presided over the first recommendation of the report in
respect of the confirmation of election of the Chair. Upon the carriage of
the first recommendation, Chair Qadri, having been confirmed as Chair, presided
over the second recommendation, in respect of the confirmation of election of
the Vice-Chair. Vice-Chair Poirier was confirmed as Vice-Chair of the Board.
|
|
CARRIED
|
|
|
|
ANNOUNCEMENTS/CEREMONIAL ACTIVITIES
|
Certificates of recognition were presented to the
participants and winners of the Ottawa Public Health’s 2015 Annual Report
artwork challenge.
In October 2015, Ottawa Public Health launched an
artwork challenge for all Ottawa students, with the winning artwork to be
featured in Ottawa Public Health’s 2015 Annual report.
The winning entries, whose art will be featured in
Ottawa Public Health’s 2015 Annual Report are:
·
Eva
and Saffi Petersen Ndiaye,
Family Health category
·
Jenna
Wang, Infectious
Disease category
·
Giorgio
Manasseri in
the following three categories: Chronic Disease & Injury Prevention;
Environmental Health; and Emergency Preparedness
Certificates of recognition were given to:
·
Eva
Petersen Ndiaye
·
Saffi
Petersen Ndiaye
·
Noah
Keats
·
Neena
Culliton
·
Giorgio
Manasseri
·
Jenna
Wang
Also recognized, but unable to attend, were Annie
Sabourin and Yasmeen Zabien.
|
COMMUNICATIONS
|
Thirteen communication items
have been received (held
on file with the Board of Health Secretary).
|
RECEIVED
|
Following a ‘Consent Agenda’ process, the Board
considered the held Items in the following order: Items 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8.
2.
|
CHAIR
OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH VERBAL REPORT
|
|
ACS2016-OPH-BOH-0001
|
|
That the Board of Health for the
City of Ottawa Health Unit receive this report for information.
|
|
Chair Qadri provided the Board with an update on recent
events. The attached memo includes the Chair of the Board of Health Verbal
Update.
Following the discussion, the report recommendation was
put to the Board.
|
|
RECEIVED
|
3.
|
MEDICAL
OFFICER OF HEALTH VERBAL REPORT
|
|
ACS2016-OPH-MOH-0001
|
|
That the Board of Health for the
City of Ottawa Health Unit receive this report for information.
|
|
Dr. Isra Levy, Medical Officer of Health, provided the
Board with an update on recent events. The attached memo includes the Medical
Officer of Health Verbal Update.
Following the discussion, the report recommendation was
put to the Board.
|
|
RECEIVED
|
|
|
|
4.
|
MAKING
HEALTHY EATING AND ACTIVE LIVING THE EASY CHOICE
|
|
ACS2016-OPH-HPDP-0001
|
|
That the Board of Health for the
City of Ottawa Health Unit:
1. Approve the strategic
initiatives for Ottawa Public Health’s Strategic Direction #1 – Inspire and
Support Healthy Eating and Active Living, as outlined in this report:
a) Expand Healthy Eating and
Active Living guidelines to other sectors, organizations and workplaces
b) Improve access to and
uptake of healthier choices where food is purchased
c) Work with food security
partners to strengthen local food systems
d) Promote walking and
cycling for active transportation and leisure
e) Advance natural and built
environments;
2. Direct staff to seek new
opportunities to advance health perspectives in municipal policies and
programming; and,
3.
Approve
that the Chair of the Board of Health write a letter to the Federal Minister
of Health, with a copy to the Provincial Minister of Health and Long-Term
Care, and other Boards of Health supporting the priorities outlined in the
Federal Minister of Health Mandate Letter to promote public health.
|
|
Ms. Sherry Nigro, Manager, Health Promotion Disease
Prevention, and Ms. Hilda Chow, Program Manager, Chronic Disease Prevention, spoke
to a PowerPoint presentation, which served to provide the Board with some
context on this report. Ottawa Public Health staff took questions from Board
members. This discussion lasted approximately 50 minutes. A copy of the
presentation is held on file with the Board of Health Secretary.
Following the discussion, the report recommendations were
put to the Board.
|
|
CARRIED
|
|
|
|
5.
|
TOWARDS
BETTER OUTCOMES FOR COMMUNITIES AND PATIENTS: PROTECTING AND LEVERAGING
PUBLIC HEALTH IN ONTARIO’S PROPOSED HEALTH SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION
|
|
ACS2016-OPH-SSB-0002
|
|
That the Board of Health for the
City of Ottawa Health Unit:
1. Receive for information
the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s discussion paper entitled: Patients
First: A Proposal to Strengthen Patient-Centred Health Care in Ontario
(Document 1);
2. Approve that the Chair of
the Board of Health submit this report to the Minister of Health and
Long-Term Care and write a letter to the Minister of Health and Long-Term
Care outlining the key considerations for successful health system
transformation, as outlined in the report:
a) Leverage the Role of
Public Health
b) Maintain Independent
Governance and Accountability
c) Protect Public Health
Funding
d) Strategically Integrate
Population Health Priorities, Assessment, and Surveillance; and
e) Enhance Public Health
Capacity
3. Approve that the Chair of
the Board of Health include in the letter, referenced in Recommendation 2, a
recommendation that Boards of Health be afforded ex-officio representation on
Local Health Integration Networks (LHIN) Boards in order to effectively
influence priority setting;
4. Approve that the Chair of
the Board of Health, subject to the approval of Recommendations 2 and 3,
forward the letter referenced in recommendations 2 and 3 and this report to
all Ontario Boards of Health, Ottawa City Council, the Association of
Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), Association of Local Public Health Agencies
(alPHa), the Champlain LHIN, and local Members of Provincial Parliament, as
part of the Ministry’s consultations on their proposals included in the Patients
First: A Proposal to Strengthen Patient-Centred Health Care in Ontario
report;
5. Recommend that the Chair
of the Board of Health, and the Medical Officer of Health consult with the
Ottawa City Council representative for AMO, regarding municipal perspectives
around the proposed changes in governance and funding; and,
6.
Direct
staff to contribute to the Ministry’s consultations, as required.
|
|
(Ms. Jane Dare assumed the role of
Board Secretary for the presentation of this report.)
Ms. Gillian Connelly, Program Manager, Strategic
Support Branch, and Dr. Brent Moloughney, specialist in Public Health and
Prevention Medicine, and consulting expert in public health system
organization and design, both spoke to PowerPoint presentations, which served
to provide the Board with some context on this report.
|
|
At 6:58 p.m., Member Qaqish moved a motion to extend
the meeting.
MOTION 08/02
Moved by Member Qaqish
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board of
Health approve that the meeting time be extended past 7:00 p.m. pursuant to
Subsection 8.(1)(c) of the Procedural By-law.
CARRIED
|
|
Ms. Connelly and Dr. Moloughney then took questions
from Board members. This discussion lasted approximately 50 minutes. Copies
of the presentations are held on file with the Board of Health Secretary.
Following the discussion, the report recommendations were
put to the Board.
|
|
CARRIED, as amended by the
following motion:
|
|
Motion 08/03
Moved by Member Leikin
BE IT RESOLVED THAT Recommendation
#3 in the Towards Better Outcomes for Communities and Patients: Protecting
and Leveraging Public Health in Ontario’s Proposed Health System
Transformation report be amended, as follows:
3.
Approve
that the Chair of the Board of Health include in the letter, referenced in
Recommendation 2, a recommendation that Boards of Health be afforded
ex-officio representation on Local Health Integration Networks (LHIN) Boards
in order to effectively influence priority setting, and also recommend
that public health representation from Boards of Health be included on the
Expert Panel outlined in the Ministry’s Patients First report;
|
|
DIRECTION TO STAFF
Member Kapur
That the letter referenced in recommendation 3 to the
Minister of Health and Long-Term Care also state that a whole government
approach, at the municipal, provincial and federal level, should be enhanced
to advance policies and programs that address the social determinants of
health and to address inequities in health outcomes.
|
|
|
|
6.
|
HEALTHY
START: PART 3 – TODDLER/ PRESCHOOL HEALTH
|
|
ACS2016-OPH-HPDP-0002
|
|
That the Board of Health for the
City of Ottawa Health Unit receive this report for information.
|
|
Ms. Sherry Nigro, Manager, Health Promotion Disease
Prevention, and Mr. Marino Francispillai, Program Manager, Family and School
Health, spoke to a PowerPoint presentation, which served to provide the Board
with some context on this report. A copy of the presentation is held on file
with the Board of Health Secretary.
The following delegations addressed the Board on the Healthy
Start: Part 3 – Toddler/Preschool Health report:
·
Ms.
Marisa Moher, Director – Ottawa Child and Youth Initiative: Growing Up Great
(agreed with the report recommendation)
·
Ms.
Jennifer Theriault, Early Years Coordinator, Centretown Community Health
Centre: Best Start Ottawa Leadership Committee Co-chair (agreed with the
report recommendation)
Following the delegations, Ottawa Public Health staff
took questions from Board members. This discussion lasted approximately 20
minutes. Following the discussion, the report recommendation was then put to
the Board.
|
|
RECEIVED
|
|
|
|
MOTION TO ADOPT REPORTS
|
|
Motion 08/04
Moved by Member Qaqish
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Confirmation
of the Chair and Vice-Chair report; Chair of the Board of Health Verbal
Report; Medical Officer of Health Verbal Report; Making Healthy Eating and
Active Living the Easy Choice report; Towards Better Outcomes for Communities
and Patients: Protecting and Leveraging Public Health in Ontario’s Proposed
Health System Transformation report; Healthy Start: Part 3 – Toddler /
Preschool Health report; Ottawa Public Health’s Activities to Support Syrian
Refugees in Ottawa report; and, Attendance at the Association of Local Public
Health Agencies’ (alPHa) 2016 Board of Health Winter Symposium report be received
and adopted.
|
|
CARRIED
|
|
|
CONFIRMATION BY-LAW
|
|
Motion 08/05
Moved by Member Qaqish
BE IT
RESOLVED THAT Confirmation By-law no. 2016-1, a by-law of the Board of Health
for the City of Ottawa Health Unit to confirm the proceedings of the Ottawa
Board of Health at its meeting of February 8, 2016, be read and passed.
|
|
CARRIED
|
|
|
ADJOURNMENT
|
The Board adjourned the meeting at 7:45
p.m.
|
NEXT MEETING
Regular Meeting
Monday, April 18, 2016 - 5:00 PM, Champlain Room
“Original
signed by”
|
|
“Original
signed by”
|
BOARD SECRETARY
|
|
BOARD CHAIR
|

M E M O / N O T E D E S E R V I C E
TO: Board of Health for the City
of Ottawa Health Unit
DESTINATAIRE : Conseil de santé de la circonscription sanitaire de
la ville d’Ottawa
FROM: Councillor Shad Qadri
Contact:
Councillor Shad Qadri
Chair, Ottawa Board of Health
613-580-2424 ext. 23681
[email protected]
EXPÉDITEUR : Conseiller Shad Qadri
Personne ressource :
Conseiller Shad Qadri
Président, Conseil de santé d’Ottawa
613-580-2424, poste 23681
[email protected]
DATE: February 8,
2016
8 février 2016
FILE NUMBER: ACS2015-OPH-BOH-0004
SUBJECT: CHAIR
OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH VERBAL REPORT
OBJET : RAPPORT
VERBAL DU PRÉSIDENT DU CONSEIL DE SANTÉ
Check upon delivery
Good evening everyone,
Thank you for joining us at our first Board of Health
meeting of 2016.To start the meeting, I will briefly reflect on 2015 and look
forward to 2016.
Beyond a doubt, 2015 has been a remarkable year for the
Board, and OPH.
Numerous accomplishments and milestones come to mind.
In 2015, the Board:
·
Developed
new Strategic Priorities to guide Ottawa Public Health for the next three
years. These priorities aim to build a healthier
Ottawa.
·
Adopted
an immunization strategy that aims to increase the number of children
vaccinated.
·
Endorsed
OPH’s five-point plan to provide Ottawa families with the right care, at the
right time; and
·
The
Board also approved an innovative trial project called OttawaSafe. The
project is a
new way to share restaurant inspection results online.
I am now looking forward to working with staff and our
Board in 2016 on many new initiatives and project.
So far, January has been a busy month for our Board
members and our staff.
OPH continues its efforts to ensure that school-aged
children’s immunization records are up to date. Since last spring, tens of
thousands of phone calls and letters have been sent to parents and guardians.
And OPH continues to receive hundreds of communications daily. Since OPH
started the notices of suspension on December 15, 2015, over 3800 Ottawa students
have been suspended - at least one day from school -because their immunization
records were not up-to-date.
This step of suspending students, while not the ideal,
has proven to be effective. For the schools that have gone through the full
surveillance, the data bases are ninety six percent updated. The last
batch of suspensions in elementary schools will be sent tomorrow - with
suspensions in high schools to be completed by the end of March.
I understand that OPH staff are working closely with schools
and parents and guardians so students may return to school as soon as possible.
I would like to thank staff who are working long hours to
respond to questions from parents and update student vaccination records, as
part of this Every Child, Every Year immunization initiative.
I would like to remind all Ottawa parents and guardians
that they can report their child’s immunization records to OPH by phone,
online, fax, mail or by the Immunize dot CA app.
Last month Vice-Chair Poirier and Councillor Mathieu
Fleury attended the OPH Annual All-Staff Meeting. With the theme of “All for
Public Health – Public Health for All” the meeting provided an opportunity for
staff to hear from community leaders about community partnership and
collaboration. Thank you Vice-Chair Poirier and Member Fleury for representing
the Board.
The following day, on January 27, OPH participated in
Bell Let’s Talk Day. This day seeks to break the silence around mental illness and support
mental health all across Canada. As part of this day, OPH staff
promoted, on CTV News at Noon, OPH’s “Have That Talk” videos. These OPH videos
aim to give parents the knowledge and resources needed to talk about mental
health with their child or teen.
Looking forward in 2016, the Board and OPH will continue
to advance: healthy eating and active living; positive mental health; sexual
health services -- for priority populations; and reduce falls for older – along
with many other major projects.
Finally, as the Board is aware, Sherry Nigro, Branch
Manager for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, announced – earlier this
month - that she will be retiring in April, after more than 25 years of service
to Ottawa's residents and Ottawa Public Health.
Sherry has been an exceptional contributor to public
health in Ottawa - advancing the health of our community. Her outstanding
ability to work with city partners and other stakeholders has resulted in sound
public health policy, programs and services that have benefitted residents of
all ages.
Next month, partners, Board members, and staff will be
celebrating Sherry’s accomplishments at her retirement party. Please join me in
collectively wishing her the best as she starts this new chapter in her life
and recognizing her many accomplishments over the past 25 years.
That concludes my comments for this evening. I would be
happy to take any questions from Board members.
Thank you.

M E M O / N O T E D E S E R V I C E
TO: Board of Health for the City
of Ottawa Health Unit
DESTINATAIRE
: Conseil de
santé de la circonscription sanitaire de la ville d’Ottawa
FROM: Dr. Isra Levy,
Ottawa Public Health
Contact:
Dr. Isra Levy
Medical Officer of Health
Ottawa Public Health
613-580-2424 ext. 23681 [email protected]
EXPÉDITEUR : Dr Isra Levy,
Santé publique Ottawa
Personne ressource :
Dr Isra Levy
Médecin chef en santé publique
Santé publique Ottawa
613-580-2424, poste 23681 [email protected]
DATE: February 8,
2016
8 février
2016
FILE NUMBER: ACS2016-OPH-MOH-0001
SUBJECT: MEDICAL OFFICER
OF HEALTH VERBAL REPORT
OBJET : RAPPORT VERBAL DU MÉDECIN CHEF EN SANTÉ
PUBLIQUE
Check upon delivery
Bonsoir, good evening,
As it is the first meeting of the year, it is not too
late to wish you all a happy new year. And I especially want to acknowledge
tonight as New Year for our Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese friends and staff,
and to wish them New Year happiness. Also, I want to echo Chair Qadri's
remarks about Sherry Nigro. You will have the opportunity to hear from Sherry
again, as so often in the past, later tonight. I know you have appreciated her
diligent and thorough work on your behalf, and I want to publicly recognize her
on behalf of our staff here tonight too. Her leadership and wisdom will be
missed by all at OPH.
As always, things have been busy on a variety of fronts
since our last meeting. January saw an influx of several hundred refugees into
Ottawa. Our work with municipal and community colleagues is outlined in the
report in your package. As of today, we have run ten outreach immunization
clinics, and provided vaccines to over 500 refugees. We have also provided close
to 400 dental screenings, and continue to assist with Infection Prevention and
Control measures at the temporary lodging sites which are now operating in
hotels in the community. Like many of our partner agencies, OPH is adapting
plans virtually daily to address emerging needs.
Another new and previously unforeseen pressure is the
widely publicised Zika virus situation in the Caribbean, Central and South
America. Zika virus infection is caused by the bite of an infected mosquito,
and seems to cause a relatively mild and time limited infection in most adults
who contract it. However, due to the still unproven but growing concerns about
the virus’ potentially devastating effects on an unborn child, public health
agencies around the world have been recommending that pregnant women and those
considering becoming pregnant discuss their travel plans with their health care
provider and consider deferring travel. Needless to say we have had many
enquiries about this issue.
There have been other significant developments in the
last few months. Firstly, there appears to be growing interest at both the
provincial and federal level in alcohol as a public health issue. In December, the
provincial government announced consultations on the development of a
provincial Alcohol Policy Framework, given the necessity to explore ways to
mitigate potential health impacts of increased access to, and use of, alcohol.
Also, just last week Canada’s national Chief Public Health Officer, Dr Greg
Taylor, made alcohol the subject of his annual Report to Parliament on the
State of Public Health in Canada. Dr Taylor warns of the potential health
risks from even low levels of drinking. We know that locally, in Ottawa,
alcohol continues to cause a great burden of illness and death, and this month
we have started a community conversation about alcohol on our social media
channels. From February 1 to 29, the public can share their views online at HaveYourSayOttawa.ca
[DonnezVotreAvisOttawa.ca] to access a short bilingual survey. And of course we
take comments through all of our other usual channels....phone, email and
social media. We will build results of these conversations and an analysis of
Dr Taylor's report into our own work towards reducing the harms associated with
excessive alcohol use.
December was a typically busy month for the province too.
Aside from the alcohol strategy announcement, the Ministry of Health and
Long-Term Care also released a discussion paper regarding reform to the health
care system in Ontario. Although we had anticipated that release, and the
potential that local public health agencies might be included in the ministry
plans, the timeline for consultations on that paper is very short. The Ministry
is asking for inputs by the end of this month. Accordingly that item is also on
tonight’s agenda.
Finally, here at OPH we continually strive for quality
improvement. During the next several months we will be gearing up for our
Accreditation Survey visit, which will take place in June this year. Also, we
will be assessing the results of our 2015 Quality Improvement plan, and
collating the performance measurements for the provincial accountability
targets. As in previous years, we are tracking towards meeting at least 80% of
our targets, and continue to stay flexible and adaptable in our work so that we
can meet emerging needs and continue to perform well against these targets. You
will receive our year-end Public Health Funding and Accountability Agreement
report in April, along with the Annual report, so we will have an opportunity
to review that at that time.
That concludes my verbal report. I am, of course, happy
to answer any questions.
Merci