Board of Health Meeting
Chair Keith Egli – Verbal report
December 9, 2019
In tonight’s verbal report, I will be providing updates
on flu immunization, public health modernization and the alPHa Fall Symposium.
Flu Vaccine
As you know, Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has been
promoting the flu vaccine and offering it at clinics across the City. The flu
vaccine has also been available at participating pharmacies and through physician and nurse practitioner offices.
This year’s OPH flu clinics saw an increase of
approximately 20% over last year, which is a good indication that residents are
getting the message about the importance of getting their annual flu shot.
I would like to thank those Board members and local MPPs
who were able to attend our November 8th media event where CTV News
at Noon broadcasted live from OPH’s vaccination
clinic and some of us received our flu shot on camera to help promote the
safety and effectiveness of vaccination.
To date, OPH has distributed 251,745 doses of the flu
vaccine to different providers in the community – not including the doses
distributed to pharmacies, who receive their supplies directly from a private
distributor.
I would also like to advise the public that OPH will be
adding one additional clinic in the City’s east end. The clinic will be held at
Henry Munro Middle School, which is in the Beacon
Hill area, on Sunday, December 14 from 9 am to 2 pm.
I’m told that OPH has received an
additional supply of the high dose vaccine for adults 65 and older, which is
being distributed to providers and will be available at the December 14th
clinic at Henry Munro Middle School.
We look forward to welcoming residents at
that clinic.
Public Health Modernization
Next, I would like to touch on developments on the
Province’s plans for public health modernization. On Monday, November 18th, the
Ministry of Health held a webinar to announce details about their proposed
consultation on the modernization of public health and emergency services.
The panel discussion included Mr. Jim Pine, Expert
Advisor for consultations on modernizing, Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s Chief
Medical Officer of Health, and Ms. Alison Blair, Assistant Deputy Minister of
Emergency Health Services and Executive Lead for Public Health Modernization.
Together, they provided an update on timelines and expectations for the
consultation period, and a discussion paper was released to start the
conversation.
Imbedded in the discussion paper are 21 questions.
As part of this consultation, Ottawa Public
Health, through the Board of Health, will be submitting a response to the 21
questions posed. I understand staff are working on that as we speak and Dr.
Etches will provide additional details as part of her verbal report.
alPHa Fall Symposium
Finally, the Association of Local Public Health Agencies’
(alPHa) Fall Symposium took place in early November. Various topics were
discussed, and I will let Members Banham and Tilley, who represented our Board
of Health at the symposium, speak about their experience as participants at the
Fall Symposium.
(Member Banham speaks)
(Member Tilley speaks)
Thank you both for attending on behalf of the Ottawa
Board of Health and for providing us with your insights tonight.
I understand the Board Secretary will be circulating
information soon about the alPHa Winter Symposium, which is scheduled for late
February, and asking for Members’ expressions of interest to attend that
meeting.
That concludes my verbal report. I’d be happy to take any
questions.
Board of Health Meeting
Dr. Vera Etches – Verbal report
December 9, 2019
Good evening, Bonsoir, Kwe,
This evening I will be providing updates about food
affordability and security; local partnerships and provincial developments.
Nutritious Food Basket
As part of the Ontario Public
Health Standards, boards of health are required to monitor food
affordability and food security at a local level. Board Members received OPH
Connection newsletter articles on November 12th and December 3rd
about Ottawa’s food affordability and security that used the Nutritious Food
Basket data.
Based on OPH’s 2019 assessment, the
cost of food continues to increase, 22% in the last 10 years. This year’s
survey found it costs a minimum of $901 per month to adequately feed a family
of four in Ottawa. Using this year’s figures, families of four who rely on
Ontario Works for income have about $138 left at the end of the month, after
paying average rent costs and for food.
When individuals and families do not
have enough income to pay for rent and other basic living costs, food often
becomes a discretionary expense, resulting in a less healthy diet, hunger and
an increased risk of chronic disease and poor mental health.
Ces informations sur le coût des aliments
aident à informer les pratiques de santé publique, les politiques publiques et
les programmes sociaux et nutritionnels de nos parties prenantes.
Official Plan
With respect to influencing the local policy environment,
earlier today I joined colleagues from Planning, Infrastructure and Economic
Development to speak in support of the Official Plan at the joint meeting of
the Agriculture and Rural Affairs and Planning Committees.
As Members know, the new Official Plan will provide a long-term vision for the City’s future growth
and a policy framework to guide its physical development to the year 2046.
In speaking at Committee today, I affirmed the commitment
made by the Board of Health at its September meeting to encourage healthy communities by design
by recommending that a public health
perspective be embedded in the development of the new Official
Plan.
J'étais heureuse de prendre la parole à la réunion
conjointe des comités et j'ai hâte de poursuivre nos collaborations avec des
collègues de la ville pour bâtir une ville saine.
Crime
Prevention Ottawa Board
Still on local partnerships
– following City Council’s approval on November 27, I am able to share with you
that I have been appointed to the Crime Prevention Ottawa Board of Directors. I
look forward to taking part in their board member orientation in early January
and the opportunity to bring a public health perspective and health equity lens
to the important work done by CPO.
Ontario
Seniors Dental Care Program
Moving on to recent provincial developments, OPH is very
pleased that last month, the new Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program was launched
to support low-income seniors’ oral health.
OPH has received phone calls from community members
looking for more information on access to these services and the team has been
working to support applicants as they navigate the application process. Additional
dentists and other employees have been hired, and contracts are being
negotiated, in order to be able to provide additional dental services to
low-income seniors once applications are processed by the province. The
Ministry has advised OPH that the New Public Health Unit Clinic proposal will
advance to the next phase of the capital application process.
Office of the Auditor
General of Ontario (OAGO) Annual Report
In late July, Board Members received
an email advising that Ottawa Public Health was expecting a visit from Auditors
with the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario who were conducting a
Value-for-Money Audit to assess how the Ministry of Health, through Public
Health Units, delivers food safety programs across the province.
À ce moment-là, je me suis engagée à donner une mise à
jour au Conseil de santé sur les conclusions et recommandations du
vérificateur.
Though OPH has not had time to fully review all
implications of the report, I want to flag for Board Members that findings from
the food inspection audit conducted earlier this year were part of the
Auditor’s annual report, released last week.
Overall, the auditors concluded that the health units
they visited had effective systems and procedures in place to inspect food
premises and to conduct foodborne illness surveillance and outbreak management
in accordance with applicable legislation and regulations. They made several
recommendations to the Ministry of Health that focus on improving consistency
across the province when it comes to food safety programming initiatives,
including the way inspection results are disclosed to the public, the approach
to inspecting special events, as well as follow-up policies and procedures with
respect to food borne illness complaints.
The report also provides recommendations for the Ontario
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, which is responsible for certain
aspects of the food safety system, such as meat processing, as well as egg and
milk production.
We look forward to working with the Ministry of Health
and partners to implement the relevant recommendations made in the Auditor’s
report.
Ontario Health Teams
With
respect to the development of Ontario Health Teams, this past Friday, December
6th, the Honourable Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health,
was at the Centretown Community Health Centre
to announce the first local Ontario Health Team (OHT) in the Ottawa area – the
Ottawa Health Team/Équipe santé Ottawa. Ottawa Public Health is a convening
partner on this team, led by 6 Ottawa-area Community Health Centres with over
50 partner agencies. I am pleased that this team has made its foundational
commitments to focus on keeping people healthy and well in the community and
addressing barriers to health equity including social determinants. These
commitments align well with Ottawa Public Health’s strategic plan.
The
Ministry also took the opportunity on Friday to express support for the “Kids
Come First”/”Enfants avant tous” Ontario Health Team collaboration, which is
being led by the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Specifically, the
Ministry will support moving home and community care for children and youth
from the LHIN into the Kids Come First initiative. The Minister encouraged the
partners involved in the Kids Come First work to continue to
enhance the delivery of a full continuum of care for children across Eastern
Ontario.
Several other Ontario Health Teams have been announced
across the province and the Ministry of Health has indicated that once all 24
initial teams are introduced, a complete list will be published and details
about next steps will be shared with all teams having submitted an application.
SPO a hâte de
travailler avec des partenaires à travers la province pour mieux définir le
rôle de la santé publique dans les ÉSO et favoriser la prévention dans le
système de soins de santé.
Public Health Modernization
Finally, I would like to provide an update on the
Province’s public health modernization process. To assist with the discussion
on this last topic, the team has prepared a PowerPoint presentation. I will
pause throughout the presentation to invite your perspective and I look forward
to your guidance regarding the development of key messages to convey in the
consultation period.
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Slide 1
– Intro
SPO acceuille bien la modernisation du secteur de la
santé publique. OPH’s
culture is to continuously review our services and the team is interested in
finding ways to secure efficiencies and reinvest in addressing the public health
needs of our population.
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Slide 2
– Overview
I will present information on the provincial consultation
process and on how OPH is planning to participate.
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Slide 3
– Consultations
At our last meeting, I advised that OPH was awaiting the
release of a discussion paper. As the Chair mentioned, that was released on
November 18th and includes a presentation of challenges in the
public health sector and a series of 21 questions about potential solutions.
No geographic boundaries or structural changes are proposed
in the document.
Rather, the Ministry has expressed that they are
interested in listening to the sector and key stakeholders to understand the
needs for modernization and the ways to strengthen the public health system.
-
Slide
4 – Discussion Question Themes
The questions posed in the Discussion Paper are grouped into
themes, which are listed here.
Any questions?
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Slide 5 – Consultation milestones
Cette diapositive identifie plusieurs jalons du processus
de consultation provincial.
OPH has yet to receive confirmation of when there may be
an in-person meeting with Mr. Pine for Ottawa, but I will keep you informed as
details become available. To date, a meeting has occurred in the Northwest and
one is scheduled for Peterborough on Dec 19.
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Slide 6
– Local Context - shifting to how OPH is preparing information to submit to the
Ministry during this consultation process…
Just as patients must inform improvements in the health
care system, the public must inform modernization of public health in Ontario.
The Chair supported the launch of an on-line platform with an open house at
City Hall, held last week. The Engage.Ottawa.ca channel will remain open until
mid-to-late January. I encourage everyone to share this opportunity for input
with their respective networks.
OPH is also engaging with key stakeholders and partners,
such as Indigenous health service providers and the Reseau de service de santé
en français, in order to provide a submission that will include the
perspectives of key partners.
Tomorrow, Chair Egli and I will be hosting a drop-in
session for Members of Council in order to answer their questions and collect
their ideas and feedback.
OPH team members have also started drafting responses to
the 21 questions found in the Discussion Paper and are preparing for the
opportunity of an in-person meeting with provincial representatives.
Your ideas about engagement with community members and
stakeholders are welcome…
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Slide 7
– Preliminary Key Messages
J'aimerais passer le reste de cette présentation et
discussion sur les messages clés préliminaires qui émergent pour votre
considération. Should
you support the direction in the preliminary key messages, the team will
further develop a more detailed response under the categories presented.
Early thinking about our response to the 21 questions is
that the material can be grouped into four key messages related to the benefits
of our connection with the municipality, what public health programs and
services could be delivered provincially versus what should continue to be
provided locally, the notion of collaboration within regions and the importance
of driving prevention across the health system.
In the next few slides, I’ll elaborate on these points
and please join in to share your perspectives.
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Slide 8
– Benefits of connection to the municipality
We’ve discussed before the many benefits from OPH’s close
connection with the City of Ottawa – not only because of the in-kind support
OPH receives from the City in terms of human resources, information technology,
purchasing, facilities and much more – but also because of our close working
relationships and collaboration with various City departments that improves
service for residents and visitors to Ottawa. Further, the close relationship
with the city facilitates joint policy work, such as on the Official Plan
mentioned earlier this evening.
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Slide 9
– Public Health delivered locally – supported provincially
The OPH team has identified that there are some programs
and services that could be delivered Provincially, which would avoid some
duplication and provide greater consistency across the Province, freeing up
resources to address the growing needs of our population with local programs
and services. While epidemiology has been singled out with questions about
what could be provided centrally, OPH requires robust epidemiology capacity at
the local level, to identify local health risks and strengths, to investigate
and respond to health hazards and outbreaks, and to inform local policy
development and implementation. As another example, policy work could be
informed by literature reviews completed once by the province, and,
on-the-ground relationships are required to translate that knowledge into local
by-laws, or other policy initiatives, such as healthy school environments,
where we know each school needs support, as well as overarching direction from
the Ministry of Education and School Boards.
-
Slide
10 – Collaboration within regions
There are opportunities to strengthen the public health
sector by drawing on the specific areas of expertise that have developed in
different parts of the province, whether in rural, mixed or urban areas.
Collaboration within regions could extend access to technical or professional support,
augment capacity of practitioners, and build on leading practices across the
province.
-
Slide
11 – Drive Prevention Across the Health System
Finally, while the health care system is only one
determinant of health, there is an opportunity as the health system is being
transformed to promote goals and approaches within the system that would better
improve the health of the population. OPH is seizing the opportunity to drive
prevention in the health care system and the value added of this approach can be
highlighted in the consultation process.
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Slide
12 – Key Messages
I will leave this slide up with the preliminary key
messages to which I invite your further contribution.