January 26, 2017 - Finance & Facilities Committee Meeting Minutes

Committee Members Present:

Ms. Trish Fulton (Committee Chair)
Mr. Jesse Helmer
Mr. Marcel Meyer
Mr. Ian Peer
Ms. Joanne Vanderheyden

Others Present:

Ms. Elizabeth Milne, Executive Assistant to the Board of Health & Communications (Recorder)
Ms. Laura Di Cesare, Secretary-Treasurer
Ms. Mary Lou Albanese, Manager, Child Health Team
Mr. Jordan Banninga, Manager, Strategic Projects
Mr. Ben Bechard, Acting Manager, Information Technology
Ms. Vanessa Bell, Manager, Occupational Health and Safety and Privacy
Ms. Tammy Beaudry, Accounting and Budget Analyst, Finance
Ms. Rhonda Brittan, Manager, Healthy Communities & Injury Prevention
Ms. Lisa Clayton, Manager, Human Resources
Ms. Anita Cramp, Manager, Young Adult Team
Ms. Shaya Dhinsa, Manager, Sexual Health
Mr. Dan Flaherty, Manager, Communications
Ms. Lynn Guy, Executive Assistant to the Medical Officer of Health/CEO
Ms. Donna Kosmack, Manager, South West Tobacco Control Area Network
Mr. John Millson, Associate Director, Finance
Ms. Heather Lokko, Director, Healthy Start
Mr. Chimere Okoronkwo, Manager, Oral Health
Mr. Dave Pavletic, Manager, Food Safety & Healthy Environments
Mr. Fatih Sekercioglu, Manager, Safe Water, Rabies and Vector-Borne Disease
Mr. Stephen Turner, Director, Environmental Health and Infectious Disease
Ms. Suzanne Vandervoort, Director, Healthy Living

At 10:30 a.m., Ms. Di Cesare called the meeting to order.

Ms. Di Cesare welcomed the Committee and staff to the first Finance & Facilities Committee (FFC) meeting of 2017 and noted that the position of Chair for 2017 is currently vacant. Ms. Di Cesare welcomed nominations for the Chair of the Finance & Facilities Committee for 2017.

Ms. Vanderheyden nominated Ms. Fulton for Chair of the Finance and Facilities Committee for 2017.

Ms. Fulton agreed to let her name stand.

It was moved by Ms. Vanderheyden, seconded by Mr. Meyer, that Ms. Fulton be elected Chair of the Finance & Facilities Committee for 2017, by majority vote. Carried

Disclosure of Conflict(s) of Interest

Chair Fulton inquired if there were any disclosures of conflicts of interest. None were declared.

Approval of Agenda

Ms. Fulton noted a change to the meeting agenda: Item 5.1, the Finance & Facilities Committee meeting schedule for 2017, which will be deferred to the February 2, 2017 meeting, at which time the dates will be reviewed in conjunction with the 2017 FFC Reporting Calendar.

It was moved by Ms. Vanderheyden, seconded by Mr. Peer that the AGENDA for the January 26, 2017 Finance and Facilities Committee meeting be approved as amended. Carried

Approval of Minutes

It was moved by Ms. Vanderheyden, seconded by Mr. Helmer that the MINUTES from the December 1, 2016 Finance and Facilities Committee meeting be approved. Carried

New Business

4.1 2016 Board of Health Remuneration (Report No. 002-17FFC)

It was moved by Mr. Peer, seconded by Mr. Helmer, that the Finance and Facilities Committee make recommendation to the Board of Health to receive Report No. 002-17FFC, “2016 Board of Health Remuneration” for information. Carried

Chair Fulton noted that this information will also be forwarded to the City of London and Middlesex County once received by the Board of Health.

4.2 2017 Budget – FFC Review (Report No. 001-17FFC)

Chair Fulton reviewed the 2017 Program & Budget Templates document, commending the work done by staff and expressing appreciation for the format of the document. Chair Fulton outlined the order in which the budget will be reviewed for the day.

Division #1 Corporate Services

Ms. Laura Di Cesare introduced the Corporate Services Managers in attendance, Ms. Lisa Clayton, Ms. Vanessa Bell, Mr. Jordan Banninga, and Mr. Ben Bechard. Ms. Di Cesare provided a summary of key performance indicators, key initiatives and highlights as well as the FTE, budgeted expenditures and pressures and challenges for the teams within Corporate Services which include: Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Privacy and Occupational Health and Safety, Procurement & Operations and Strategic Projects.

Discussion ensued about the following items:
• Changes to service areas that might put additional pressure and challenges on the Division, such as Acting CEO responsibilities, negotiations, staffing changes, and retirements.
• The ratio of benefits to salaries and wages and the timelines for replacing the Finance FRX Accounting software system.
• Staff development budgets for organization-wide training in particular in the areas of occupational health & safety but also as it relates to embedding previous learnings from the Leadership Development Program.
• How living wage clauses will be integrated into contracts going forward.
• The intake line review for MLHU phone systems and the IT Helpdesk ticket resolution rate.

The committee spent time discussing the impacts of the workload of the Acting CEO role for the Director of Corporate Services and flagged they would consider supporting temporary resources if required which would have budgetary impacts.

The Committee agreed that it will go forward with the recommended budget to the Board of Health after all Program Budget Templates are reviewed and finalized as a whole.

Mr. Millson noted that a budget summary recommendation will be finalized and brought to the Feb 2 FFC meeting based on discussion and updates from today’s meeting.

Division #2 - Foundational Standard

Dr. Gayane Hovhannisyan, Associate Medical Officer of Health, provided a summary of the Program & Budget Templates for the first year of this new Division, clarifying the roles of the Associate Medical Officer of Health, the Medical Director and the Director, Foundational Standard. Dr. Hovhannisyan also clarified and reviewed the medical directives associated with and supported in her role.

Discussion ensued about the following items:
• The role that Environmental Health and Infectious Disease will take in supporting HIV work going forward.
• The hiring of a Medical Director to assist with work in the Sexual Health Clinic during Dr. Hovhannisyan’s coverage of Dr. Mackie’s leave; the prioritization of work and the payment for additional Physician fees for the clinic.
• Dr. Hovhannisyan’s role in the review and development of medical directives.

At 12:03 p.m. it was moved by Mr. Helmer, seconded by Mr. Peer, that the Finance and Facilities Committee take a 12-minute recess before moving on to the next Division template.
Carried

Chair Fulton called the meeting back to order at 12:14 p.m. and requested that the new guests in attendance introduce themselves.

Ms. Anita Cramp, Mr. Chimere Okoronkwo, Ms. Donna Kosmack, Ms. Mary Lou Albanese and Ms. Rhonda Brittan introduced themselves.

Division #3 – Healthy Living

Ms. Suzanne Vandervoort, Director, Healthy Living requested a change to re-order the review of Program & Budget Templates for the Healthy Living Division and provided a summary of key performance indicators, key initiatives and highlights as well as the FTE, budgeted expenditures and pressures and challenges for the teams within this Division.

Discussion ensued about the following items:
• The regulation and inclusion of Marijuana in the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, and the regulation of contraband cigarettes.
• The current challenges faced by the Oral Health Team which include: implementing Healthy Smiles Ontario; working with school boards to achieve consent for school-based screening and fluoride varnish; and enhancing strategies to improve communication with parents and school boards to increase consent and dental screening.

Division # 4 - Office of the Medical Officer of Health

Ms. Di Cesare provided a summary of the key performance indicators, key initiatives and highlights as well as the FTE, budgeted expenditures and pressures and challenges for this Division for 2017.

Mr. Dan Flaherty, Communications Manager and Ms. Lynn Guy, Executive Assistant to the Medical Officer of Health/CEO attended to answer questions.

Discussion ensued about the following items:
• The Health Unit’s rankings in social media compared to other health units: On Twitter, MLHU is third in the Province, only next to Toronto and Ottawa Public Health; First in the Province for the number of video views on YouTube (700,000).
• The benefits of promoting programs and services through social media and video content, major 2017 initiatives planned for Communications for 2017 and how the changing media landscape effects the Health Unit’s ability to reach target audiences, share information and share stories in the news.
• The review of the Health Unit’s branding and graphic standards.

Division #5 – Environmental Health and Infectious Disease (EHID)

Mr. Stephen Turner, Director, Environmental Health and Infectious Disease introduced his Management Team in attendance, Mr. Dave Pavletic, Ms. Shaya Dhinsa and Mr. Fatih Sekercioglu. Mr. Turner provided an overview of key performance indicators, key initiatives and highlights as well as the FTE, budgeted expenditures and pressures and challenges for the teams within EHID.

Discussion ensued about the following items:
• The assurance that no service interruptions will occur during the recruitment of a new Manager of Emergency Management.
• Potential to streamline the liaison with the City to include at-home tattoo operator licensing inspections and if there are plans to pursue this in Middlesex County as well.
• The work plan, funding, pressures and evaluation plans for the HIV Outreach Program, which will include leveraging support from partner agencies, enhanced surveillance and work with clients at street-level.
• The pressures and challenges faced by the Vaccine Preventable Disease team due to the changes and expansion of the Immunization of School Pupils Act.

Division # 6 - Healthy Start

Ms. Heather Lokko, Director, Healthy Start provided a summary of key performance indicators, key initiatives and highlights as well as the FTE, budgeted expenditures and pressures and challenges for the teams within the Division.

Discussion ensued about the following items:
• The Heathy Start Planning Initiative to build capacity in staff and program planning.
• Screening at-risk clients through the Healthy Babies Healthy Children program, informed feeding and maintaining funding for this program going forward.
• Car seat checks and buckle up baby programs in Middlesex County, prenatal education, breastfeeding support and the scale of demand for the Prenatal Immigrant Program.
• Early intervention screening and why the salaries and wages did not increase in the Screening, Assessment and Intervention program budget.
• Clarification of the Chief Nursing Officer role and how it works with the Associate Medical Officer of Health on Medical Directives.

General Expenses and Revenues

Mr. John Millson, Associate Director, Finance, reviewed the expenses in this Budget Template that are not allocated to front line staff or program costs, which includes: facilities, occupancy, legal fees, board expenses and post-employment (retiree) benefits.

Discussion ensued about the following items:
• Planning for potential insurance increases going forward.
• How the provincial introduction of cap and trade might affect Health Unit operations/budgets.

The recommendations outlined this report (2017 Budget – FFC Review - Report No. 001-17FFC) were deferred until the final completion of the budget review at the next Finance & Facilities Committee meeting on February 2, 2017.

Other Business

Next meeting: Thursday, February 2, 2017 at 9:00 a.m.

Chair Fulton provided a brief summary of the reports expected for the next meeting.

Mr. Helmer noted that he stepped out of the meeting earlier to do a live interview with AM 980 on the budget process.

Chair Fulton thanked staff and the Senior Leadership Team for putting together such a comprehensive budget document.

Adjournment

It was moved by Ms. Vanderheyden, seconded by Mr. Meyer, that the Finance and Facilities Committee adjourn the meeting.
Carried

At 3:44 p.m. Chair Fulton adjourned the meeting.

Trish Fulton
Committee Chair

Laura Di Cesare
Secretary-Treasurer