Board of Health Meeting Summary
Written by admin, February 10, 2012
February 10, 2012 – Recognition of Service – Dr. Dick Ito
The Board of Health recognized the impressive contributions of Dr. Dick Ito, Dental Consultant at Public Health for the past five years. A former private dentist, Dr. Ito has provided consultation services for a number of Ontario health units and been a staunch advocate for the continued fluoridation of municipal water supplies for the benefit of public health. Dr. Ito was especially instrumental in the development of both the Community Dental Health Centre in Peterborough Square and the mobile dental clinic as part of the local implementation of the Healthy Smiles Ontario program.
A Day in the Life – Secretarial Support Staff
Administrative Assistant Wendy Freeburn provided an overview of the multi-faceted role of Public Health secretaries. Currently there are 21 secretaries who support more than 100 staff across 28 programs. As Public Health’s frontline for customer service, secretaries perform a vital role assisting clients in a non-judgemental way by welcoming them to our facility, guiding them to use our programs and services, scheduling appointments, and fielding public health complaints, such as landlord/tenant issues, animal concerns, etc. Other day to day work includes entering information into Ministry databases, digitizing records, filing, managing vaccines and ensuring proper refrigeration temperatures, processing client and school immunization records, keeping resources stocked, providing graphic design, and registering the public into classes and courses. As an example of the number of phone calls the secretaries regularly handle, one secretary noted that she fielded more than 4,000 calls for the Food Handler course last year.
PCCHU Web Site Redevelopment
Communications Supervisor Brittany Cadence together with Kerri Tojcic, Computer Technician / Analyst provided an update on the redevelopment of Public Health’s website. The project has proceeded according to plan and is scheduled to launch on May 1, 2012. Local residents are invited to register with Public Health to receive an online survey as part of the audience testing phase of the project.
Q4 2011 Program Report
Director of Public Health Programs Larry Stinson presented the fourth-quarter report summarizing all Public Health activities in 2011. Overall, Public Health showed improved compliance against the 147 Ontario Public Health Standards indicators from 135 fully compliant indicators in 2010 to 139 in 2011. Areas of partial compliance reflect those activities where more resources are still needed to achieve full compliance, such as surveillance (e.g. food safety, falls prevention), and the Healthy Babies Healthy Children program. The Public Health remains partially compliant in the inspections of facilities where health hazards are suspected because the Ministry’s operational standards have not yet been provided.
Q4 2011 Financial Report
Director of Corporate Services Brent Woodford reported that Public Health met all financial requirements for 2011.
Grant Writing Assignment Retrospective
A staff report outlined Public Health’s grant writing activity over the past four years. During the 2007-2011 period, one-third (33%) of all grant applications were successful. The attainment of additional capacity through successful grant applications has served an important role in addressing Public Health’s ability to meet its mandate and local needs. This report will be used during the Board of Health’s upcoming strategic planning exercise.
Assessment of Lot Creation Applications
A staff report was tabled informing the board of a change in Public Health’s practice in its assessment of land severance and subdivision applications, effective March 1, 2012. The change will eliminate the current practice of requiring that fill for a future sewage system be placed on a proposed lot at the time the severance is finalized.
Influenza Vaccine Coverage Rates, 2011-12 Season
The board received a report summarizing 2011-2012 influenza vaccine coverage rates for local nursing homes, retirement homes, the hospital and Public Health. Princess Gardens had the highest overall immunization rate for staff and residents at 94%. Dr. Salvaterra commended Canterbury Gardens for having the highest staff vaccination rate of all local seniors’ residences at 94% for the second year running. She noted a number of other long-term care facilities also have strong staff immunization rates above 80%, such as St. Joseph’s at Fleming, Empress Gardens, Royal Gardens and Pleasant Meadow Manor. The report included a number of recommendations to improve healthcare worker immunization rates, such as asking local health care facilities to require immunization for all new hires.
Healthy Communities Fund, Partnerships Program – Approval of 2011-12 Budget
The Board approved the 2011/12 budget for the Healthy Communities Fund – Partnerships Program in the amount of $34,850. These funds must be spent by March 31, 2012; however, details from the now-dissolved Ministry of Health Promotion were delayed and not received by Public Health until early 2012. This fund will allow Public Health to move forward on policy development relating to physical activity and healthy eating, two priority areas that were identified through community consultations in 2010.
Next Meeting: Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 185 King Street in Peterborough Public Health board room.
Respectfully submitted,
Dr. Rosana Salvaterra Deputy Mayor Andy Sharpe
Medical Officer of Health Chair, Board of Health
Please contact Brittany Cadence, Communications Supervisor, with any questions at bcadence@peterboroughpublichealth.ca or (705) 743-1000, ext. 391