Hastings and Prince Edward Counties/Dec. 6, 2023
The Hastings Prince Edward Board of Health (BOH) met today for their regular monthly meeting. The meeting was conducted in person at the office in Belleville.
HPEPH to consider potential merger
The Board endorsed investigating the feasibility of a potential merger between Hastings Prince Edward Public Health; Kingston, Frontenac, and Lennox & Addington Public Health; and Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health.
This consideration has been brought forward in response to the Ontario Ministry of Health’s announcement in August 2023 to strengthen the public health sector. This announcement also included one-time funding, resources, and supports to LPHAs that decide to voluntarily merge. The province has indicated that any cost efficiencies realized by a merger would be retained by local public health agencies to further support the delivery of programs and services.
Board of Health approves budget for 2024
Today, the Board of Health approved the Hastings Prince Edward Public Health (HPEPH) budget for 2024 in the amount of $17,927,243. HPEPH has requested a levy increase of 4.63 per cent from municipalities. This increase, along with access to operational reserves in the amount of $459,000, will ensure that reasonable service and staffing levels are maintained in 2024, as HPEPH considers potential merger with other public health units.
To maintain current operations within available budget, HPEPH anticipates a reduction of six full-time equivalent positions, accomplished through expiring employment contracts and the attrition of staff through retirements.
A complete overview of the budget can be accessed at hpePublicHealth.ca.
#SpreadJoyNotGerms
With the holiday season upon us, HPEPH, in partnership with Quinte Health and the Hastings Prince Edward Ontario Health Team, is urging residents to #SpreadJoyNotGerms.
To stay healthy for the holidays:
- Stay up to date with your immunizations: COVID, flu, and RSV if you are eligible.
- Skip the holiday party if you’re not feeling well. It is critical to stay home when you are sick, and keep your children home if they are sick.
- Wear a mask in crowded indoor spaces, and when recovering from illness. If you are recovering from illness, it is especially important to wear a mask for 10 days after your symptoms started.
- Wash your hands often, and clean high touch surfaces. This is especially important to prevent the spread of influenza and RSV, both of which are easily spread on high touch surfaces. If you host or attend a holiday gathering, clean high touch surfaces and encourage guests to wash their hands frequently or use hand sanitizer.
Ongoing concern about drug poisonings
Along with community partners, HPEPH continues to be incredibly concerned about contaminated drugs in the region and the current risk of drug poisonings.
Public Health is committed to working to reduce drug poisoning in the community both in the short and long term. We recognize that using drugs is a reality for many community members and reiterate that help is available – both to reduce potential harms when using drugs, and to provide ongoing supports and treatment.
All individuals who use drugs are urged to take steps to protect themselves.
- Avoid mixing drugs, try a small amount first, don’t use alone, and have multiple Naloxone kits on hand.
- Anyone who uses drugs or is with someone who is using drugs should be prepared to call for emergency response. The Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act provides some legal protection against simple drug possession charges for anyone who experiences, witnesses, or responds to a drug poisoning and calls 911.
- If you must use drugs alone, you can call the National Overdose Response Service’s confidential overdose prevention hotline 24-hours-a-day at 1-888-688-6677. An operator will stay on the phone with you and will call 911 and advise of possible overdose if they do not receive a response after drugs are administered.
On the HPEPH website you can find a “getting help” page with information and links to community resources, including locations where you can access safer drug use supplies and treatment services.
Our Opioid Monitoring Dashboard, developed with our community partners, provides a monthly summary of opioid harms and other early warning indicators in Hastings and Prince Edward Counties.
Enforcement Report
HPEPH’s inspection report listing charges laid in 2023 under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act (SFOA), and Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA) for the period from January 1, 2023, to June 30, 2023 was presented to the board.
Public Health Inspectors working across several Healthy Environments programs completed 1,324 food premises inspections, 303 rabies investigations, 64 small drinking water systems inspections, 144 recreational water facilities (e.g., wading pools, swimming pools) inspections, 137 personal services settings (e.g., hair salons, tattoo parlours) inspections and responded to 553 public complaints, enquiries and requests for information. As a result, six Community Health Protection Orders were issued to mitigate health hazards at three swimming pools, and three restaurants; and progressive enforcement led to 10 charges in the food safety (8), personal service settings (1), and recreational water (1) programs.
Tobacco Enforcement Officers completed 105 Smoke-Free Ontario Act (SFOA) inspections resulted in 36 warnings and seven charges. They also dealt with 27 public complaints, enquiries, and requests for resources (no smoking/vaping signs).
HPEPH posts charges and convictions monthly on the website.
Healthy Schools Annual Report
The Healthy Schools Annual Report 2022-2023 was shared with the board. The HPEPH Healthy Schools team is a multi-disciplinary team comprised of health promoters, public health nurses, a registered dietitian who have been assigned to families of schools across the jurisdiction. They provide:
- Clinical services, such as immunizations, sexual health clinics, tobacco and vaping cessation, mental health and substance use referrals, provided directly within schools;
- Health promotion resource guides which use a whole school approach to address health topics in the classroom, school and community;
- Newsletter inserts, social media messaging and roll-up banners to bring awareness to the school community regarding relevant health topics;
- Educator resource kits designed to support educators in teaching the health-related curriculum in a fun and interactive way;
- Supports to create healthy schools in partnership with students, school staff, families and community partners.
As identified in the annual year end survey sent to school administrators and staff, 99 per cent of school staff were very satisfied or satisfied with the support their school received from HPEPH during the 2022-2023 school year.
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Media contacts:
Maureen Hyland, Communications Specialist
hyland.maureen@hpeph.ca
Jessica Klein, Communications Specialist
jklein@hpeph.ca
About Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health (HPEPH) is a public health agency that serves the counties of Hastings and Prince Edward from four local offices. HPEPH is situated and provides services on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Huron-Wendat and Haudenosaunee people. We monitor the health of our local population, deliver programs and services within our communities, and help develop healthy public policies. We provide information and support in many areas to help improve the health and well-being of our residents. Together with our communities, we help people become as healthy as they can be. For more information, please visit hpePublicHealth.ca. You can also find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
We invite community partners and residents to share this Media Release with their respective networks.
