Hastings and Prince Edward Counties/Oct. 4, 2023
Today, the Hastings Prince Edward Board of Health held its meeting for October 2023.
Board of Health ratifies contracts with ONA and CUPE
The Board of Health has ratified agreements with Local 31 of the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) and Canadian Union of Public (CUPE) Local 3314. The nursing staff represented by ONA returned to work on Monday after a six-week strike, and CUPE staff returned to work this morning, after being on strike since September 22. Services will gradually resume in the coming days. An updated Service Disruption Notice has been posted on the website.
Strengthening Public Health
The Board passed a motion to explore the possibility of merging with other public health units as part of the Ontario government’s plan to strengthen the public health sector. In August, the Ministry of Health announced an intent to work with partners to clarify the role of local public health agencies, and reduce the overlap of services. This announcement also indicated that there will be one-time funding, resources, and supports for public health agencies that voluntarily merge.
The Ministry’s initiative recognizes the challenges within the public health sector in Ontario related to capacity and sustainability and the need for better alignment with other health and social services, as well as the benefit of collaboration across the health care system.
In the coming months, the Ministry will also be conducting a review of the Ontario Public Health Standards (OPHS), while working with partners to identify roles and responsibilities that can be refined, stopped, or relocated regionally/provincially. The Ministry also intends to review the current funding methodology for public health.
Additional information is available in the Ministry’s Strengthening Public Health presentation, which Dr. Toumishey shared with the Board.
Respiratory virus update from the Medical Officer of Health
Dr. Toumishey provided an update on respiratory virus season in the region. According to the Surveillance Report from Public Health Ontario, COVID-19 continues to be monitored at moderate levels and influenza rates are currently low across the province. The trend for COVID-19 is similar in the Hastings Prince Edward region.
Dr. Toumishey encouraged everyone to familiarize themselves with the Public Health Ontario Respiratory Virus Tool, which provides comprehensive epidemiological information of respiratory virus activity in Ontario, including COVID-19, influenza and other respiratory viruses. The tool is updated Fridays at 11:30 a.m.
He reiterated the importance of staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and flu shots. Beginning in the fall of 2023 for those previously vaccinated against COVID19, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends a dose of the XBB.1.5-containing formulation of COVID-19 vaccine for individuals in the authorized age group if it has been at least six months from the previous COVID-19 vaccine dose or known SARS-CoV-2 infection (whichever is later).
It is also recommended that all individuals ages 6 months or older who live, work or attend school in Ontario receive the influenza vaccine. Early doses of both vaccines are being prioritized for high-risk individuals.
Both vaccines will be available to the general public free of charge in late October.
Healthy School Program Update
The new HPEPH Healthy Schools program was implemented in Fall 2020. Due to the focus on COVID-19 prevention and management in schools, 2022- 2023 was the first school year that the full program including multiple health promotion activities were implemented.
The Healthy Schools multidisciplinary team supports comprehensive school health in secondary and elementary schools, provides information to families at school events, and works with educators to deliver health-related curricula focused on shared priorities including mental health literacy, substance use prevention and healthy relationships.
Public health nurses also provide school-based public health clinics, which offer clinical services to youth in both large school boards in HPE. This evidence-based program has a robust evaluation and monitoring plan which demonstrates the effectiveness of the interventions implemented by the Healthy Schools team.
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For more information contact:
Maureen Hyland, Communications Specialist
hyland.maureen@hpeph.ca
Communications Team
communications@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 notice with their respective networks.
