Hastings and Prince Edward Counties/ March 6, 2024
Today, the Hastings Prince Edward Board of Health held its first meeting for 2024.
The Real Cost of Eating Well
Food insecurity is a serious public health problem in Hastings and Prince Edward Counties (HPEC). The Real Cost of Eating Well in Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Report, 2023, shows the prevalence of household food insecurity for HPEC is 23 per cent, significantly higher than the provincial estimate of 17.4 per cent. That means that almost one in four households in HPEC has inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints. The report outlines the cost of food and rent for a variety of household scenarios in HPEC, many of which do not have sufficient income to meet these basic requirements.
Household food insecurity is closely linked to adverse health outcomes for both children and adults, with food insecure individuals being more likely to be diagnosed with chronic (mental and physical) conditions, negatively impacting health and well-being and increasing health-care utilization.
The Real Cost of Eating Well Report outlines several recommendations for action at the individual, municipal, and provincial level. After receiving an overview of the information, the Board expressed support for a letter to the province asking for action to address the food insecurity in HPEC, and requested that staff revise the letter to include information about potential local actions that could help address this issue.
HPEPH partnering with local midwife to offer well-baby clinic
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health (HPEPH), in collaboration with a local midwife, is hosting a new clinic which is providing well-baby checkups for infants in our community who do not have a primary care provider. The infants will continue to be seen at Quinte Health for their 72-hour well-baby checkup, at which point consent will be obtained for further well-baby checkups at HPEPH. Upon receipt of a referral from Quinte Health, infants will be scheduled to see the midwife for their well baby checkup, and where necessary a Public Health Nurse when concerns with infant feeding or symptoms of perinatal mood disorders are identified. Infants will be seen up to 6 weeks of age.
While the well-baby clinic at HPEPH is addressing a much-needed service and significant gap within our community, Public Health recognizes that this clinic alone is not enough to support the numerous unattached infants within our community. For this reason, HPEPH continues to work with community partners and to advocate for a long-term, sustainable solution for these families.
School immunizations
Families are reminded to ensure their children’s vaccination records are up to date! Approximately 4,900 letters were recently sent to students in Hastings and Prince Edward Counties whose vaccination records were incomplete. To support updating these vaccines, public health is providing clinics for these students, as well as working closely with local health care providers to assist in getting students up to date with their immunizations. Students with incomplete immunization records or without a valid exemption will be suspended on April 9, 2024.
Families should contact their health care provider to get vaccines up to date. If this is not possible, vaccine appointments can be booked at Public Health at hpePublicHealth.ca/clinic/immunization-clinic/ or by calling 613-966-5500, ext. 221.
Student vaccination records can be checked or updated at hpePublicHealth.ca/immunization-reporting-records/.
Tri-Board Voluntary Merger Committee update
The Board passed a motion to appoint Michael Kotsovos (Councillor Quinte West) as Vice-Chair to the Tri-Board Voluntary Merger Committee.
He joins committee members Jan O’Neill, Board Chair; Dr. Jeffrey Allin, provincial appointee to the Board; Board members Sean Kelly, City of Belleville Councillor and Bill Roberts (alternate), Prince Edward County Councillor; and Dr, Ethan Toumishey (non-voting member).
Dr. Toumishey provided an update on the ongoing work of the Tri-Board Voluntary Committee, which is exploring the feasibility of a voluntary merger of HPEPH with Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health (KFL&APH) and Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health (LGLDH). The consulting firm of the Sense and Nous has been hired to draft the business case that will demonstrate if/how the proposed merger meets the province’s objectives for public health mergers. A primary focus of the merger is not reducing cost, but rather improving public health capacity and the province has indicated that any cost savings from a merger would be retained by the new health unit. Maintaining, or even improving, service delivery especially in the rural areas is the vision for a merged organization.
The cost of mergers including transitional costs for any new Local Public Health Agency are expected to be funded by the province until 2027.
Once completed, the business case will be reviewed by each of the three Boards of Health and if approved will be submitted to the ministry on April 2 for their consideration.
Municipal liaisons
HPEPH offers a municipal liaison program to local municipalities to support municipal decision making that will improve population health. Through this program, municipal liaisons are assigned to each municipal area that HPEPH serves: North Hastings, Centre Hastings, Belleville, Quinte West, and Prince Edward County.
Decisions such as zoning, greenspace, active transportation routes, access to physical activity options, positive food environments and safe environments all play a role in helping community members thrive and reach their full health potential. By promoting physical health and well-being, mental health, healthy communities, and access to services, municipal liaisons hope to work with local governments to help support decision making that enables community members have better health outcomes.
For more information, visit hpePublicHealth.ca.
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 July 1 to Dec. 31, 2023 was presented to the board.
Public Health Inspectors working across several Healthy Environments programs completed 1,767 inspections and responded to 445 public complaints, enquiries, and requests for information. As a result, 12 Community Health Protection Orders were issued to mitigate health hazards at six recreational water facilities, five restaurants, and one personal service setting.
Tobacco Enforcement Officers completed 160 Smoke-Free Ontario Act (SFOA) inspections resulting in 46 warnings and 15 charges. They also dealt with 21 public complaints, enquiries, and requests for resources (no smoking/vaping signs).
HPEPH posts charges and convictions monthly on the website.
Board of Health elects Chair and Vice-Chair
The Board re-elected Jan O’Neill as Board Chair. Michael Kotsovos was also re-elected as Vice-Chair.
Melanie Paradis has been appointed to the Board by the provincial government.
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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.
