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November 23, 2017 Meeting Summary

Board of Health Meeting Summary – November 23, 2017

2018 Municipal Levy

The 2017 and 2018 projected interest on the Reserve investments will be used to fund operating costs to offset an increase in the 2018 municipal levy. As in previous years, the 2014 MPAC Population Data will be used to apportion the 2018 municipal levy among obligated municipalities. While the Board recognized that this data is not as valid as the 2016 census data from Statistics Canada, not all municipalities, as stipulated in the Health Protection and Promotion Act, agreed to use a different method than the MPAC population data.

Smoke Free Ontario

Over the past 17 years, Ontario has significantly reduced smoking rates. This decrease has been in part due to a vigorous, strategic and comprehensive tobacco strategy that helped create cultural shift that is supportive in addressing this complex addiction. There is still more work to do however. The Board of Health agreed to write a letter to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Dr. Eric Hoskins, recommending the adoption of the proposed 10 year Smoke- Free Ontario Strategy laid out in the Report of the Executive Steering Committee – Smoke Free Ontario Modernization, and to ensure proper supports and resources are in place to ensure the recommendations are implemented and complied with.

Food Insecurity

Food insecurity means not having enough money to buy nutritious food. It is an income-based issue, not a food-based issue and affects adults, children, and the health system. Food insecurity affects 9.7% of households in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark or approximately 18,680 residents. The food insecurity infographic outlines the challenges individuals and families in our community who are living on low incomes face to afford healthy food.

New Public Health Standards

The Population and Public Health Division of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care hosted a Public Health Summit on November 16, 2017 to launch the new 2017 Ontario Public Health Standards: Requirements for Programs, Services and Accountability. The Standards include Foundational Standards, Program Standards and Organizational Requirements within a Public Health Accountability Framework.

  • Foundational Standards: Population Health Assessment, Health Equity, Effective Public Health Practice, and Emergency Management.
  • Program Standards: Chronic Disease Prevention and Well-Being, Food Safety, Healthy Environments, Healthy Growth and Development, Immunization, Infectious and Communicable Disease Prevention and Control, Safe Water, School Health, Substance Use and Injury Prevention.
  • Organizational Requirements: Delivery of Programs and Services Domain, Fiduciary Requirements Domain, Good Governance and Management Practices Domain, Public Health Practice Domain, and Common to all Domains – Annual Service Plan and Reports, Risk Management Framework, Compliance with all Legal and Statutory Requirements.

LHIN’s

The South East LHIN held a Sub-Region Planning Day on November 1, 2017 in Kingston. The Lanark, Leeds, Grenville sub-region met in the afternoon to review population and health service data to begin the identification of key health issues for our region. Each sub-region will have an Integration Table to “provide high level planning, input and oversight related to the priorities and activities of the sub-region that will lead to more patient focused, integrated and responsive care and services at a system level.” Public Health will have one seat at the Table held by the Medical Officer of Health.

Program Updates

Beginning in January 2018, in accordance with the Directive from the Ministry, inspection reports for pools, spas, and personal service settings, will be posted on our Website under the “Insight” icon for Food Premises.

The Health Unit invited students in JK to Grade 8 to help build a campaign to say “NO” to germs and “YES” to being healthy. We received over 100 submissions of icky germs, germ fighting heroes, reminders about getting flu shots, washing hands, eating well, and being active. We are looking forward to sharing these submissions on our Facebook page during the month of December and are encouraging the public to like our Facebook page and share their favourites! This is a great collaboration with local schools, parents, and most of all our creative kids who made this campaign a huge success! A complete listing of all submissions will be posted on our website.

The Health Unit is again partnering with the Volunteer Centre and several other youth serving organizations to host a one day Power Up Summit as a follow up to the three day Summit held in Gananoque in February. This is being done with remaining Ontario 150 Partnership Program Grant funds. We will be hosting approximately 60 youth and 20 adult allies from across Leeds, Grenville and Lanark Counties at the Brockville Memorial Civic Centre on Friday, November 24th. We are expecting media coverage – so stay tuned.

The Health Unit supported eight local youth and young adults to attend Freeze the Industry’s Make ‘Em Plain Rally on Parliament Hill on Thursday, November 9th in support of plain and standardized packaging for tobacco products (Bill S-5). They also hosted a luncheon for MP’s to discuss the details for the legislation; Gord Brown attended and is very supportive of the issue. Last month MPP Steve Clark read a petition at Queen’s Park for Smoke-Free movies. This was a result of local youth advocacy on this issue.

Two of our public health nurses – Lucia Taggart and Tanis Brown – have been recognized for their exemplary work. Lucia has been awarded an RNAO Fellowship to study “Supporting the Development of Caring and Compassionate Care in Nursing Students Within a Public Health Setting”. An article on Tanis in the Registered Nurse Journal recognized her award for leadership in clinical practice and work in Health Equity.