Dr. Etches began her verbal report by introducing Dr. Laura Bourns, who joined OPH as and Associate Medical Officer of Health in late August, as well as Pauline Tam, Director of Stakeholder Relations and Community Engagement, and Jo-Anne Henderson-White, Program Manager of Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, who both joined OPH in July. She took a moment to highlight the Reconcili-Action Plan Update report and to thank community members and partners for their significant contribution. She also thanked Dr. Paul Gully for his work in reviewing OPH’s pandemic response, noting that there have been many lessons learned from the pandemic.
Dr. Etches then updated the Board on: the local COVID-19 situation; OPH’s work to support the return to school; the local monkeypox situation; and recommended changes to Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines. She talked about the backlog in routine childhood immunization and the need for a long-term effort with partners to ensure we sustain levels that protect the community from highly preventable deaths and severe disease that carries lifelong impacts. She referenced the recent Provincial funding announcements relating to the public health sector and explained what that meant for OPH specifically. In closing, Dr. Etches talked about health equity, diversity and inclusion at OPH and expressed her support for and commitment to this work.
The Board received one (1) written submission from Greg Macdougall with respect to how public input is reflected in meeting records, COVID-19 in schools, OPH's approach to long COVID and COVID-19 in general, and the growing public health care / hospital crisis. A copy of this submission is held on file with the Board Secretary.
The Board then voted to received the Medical Officer of Health's Verbal Report. Discussions on this item lasted approximately 40 minutes.