May 18, 2017 - Board of Health Meeting

Minutes

Members Present:

Ms. Maureen Cassidy
Mr. Michael Clarke
Ms. Patricia Fulton
Mr. Jesse Helmer (Chair)
Mr. Trevor Hunter
Ms. Tino Kasi
Mr. Marcel Meyer
Mr. Ian Peer
Mr. Kurtis Smith
Ms. Joanne Vanderheyden (Vice-Chair)

Others Present:

Ms. Laura Di Cesare, Secretary-Treasurer
Ms. Elizabeth Milne, Executive Assistant to the Board of Health and Communications (Recorder)
Ms. Shaya Dhinsa, Manager, Sexual Health
Ms. Laura Dueck, Public Health Nurse, BFI Lead
Mr. Dan Flaherty, Communications Manager
Ms. Tracey Gordon, Manager, Reproductive Health Team
Ms. Shannon Hunt, Public Health Nurse, Reproductive Health Team
Ms. Donna Kosmack, Manager, South West Tobacco Control Area Network
Dr. Gayane Hovhannisyan, Acting Medical Officer of Health
Ms. Heather Lokko, Manager, Healthy Start
Mr. John Millson, Associate Director, Finance
Ms. Debbie Shugar, Manager, Screening, Assessment and Intervention
Ms. Linda Stobo, Manager, Chronic Disease Prevention and Tobacco Control
Mr. Alex Tyml, Online Communications Coordinator
Ms. Suzanne Vandervoort, Director, Healthy Living

Chair Helmer called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Disclosures of Conflict(s) Of Interest

Chair Helmer inquired if there were any disclosures of pecuniary interest. None were declared.

Approval of Agenda

It was moved by Ms. Vanderheyden, seconded by Mr. Smith, that the AGENDA for the May 18, 2017 Board of Health meeting be approved. Carried

Approval of Minutes

It was moved by Ms. Fulton, seconded by Mr. Hunter, that the MINUTES of the April 20, 2017 Board of Health meeting be approved. Carried

Delegations

Ms. Laura Dueck, Public Health Nurse, Baby Friendly Initiative Lead, provided an update and background on the implementation of the Baby-Friendly Initiative at the Middlesex-London Health Unit, outlining the requirements as they relate to the BFI policy, Board membership and questions about the policy.

Discussion ensued about demand and access to services for breastfeeding and post-partum care, as well as support and clarification of support provided to mothers who are unable to breastfeed.

Baby-Friendly Initiative Update and Annual Board of Health Orientation (Report No. 026-17)

It was moved by Mr. Clarke, seconded by Ms. Vanderheyden, that the Board of Health receive Report No. 026-17 re: Baby-Friendly Initiative Update for information. Carried

Committee Reports

1) Finance & Facilities Committee (FFC) Meeting, May 4, 2017 (Report No. 025-17)

Ms. Fulton made note of an amendment to the May 4, 2017 FFC meeting minutes on page 2, where program targets are discussed. The answer was the reverse of the minutes: program targets are set based on program capacity, rather than on best practices, as indicated in the minutes. The May 4 minutes will be adjusted accordingly.

It was moved by Ms. Fulton, seconded by Mr. Peer, that the Board of Health receive the minutes from the May 4, 2017 Finance & Facilities Committee meeting as amended. Carried

It was moved by Ms. Fulton, seconded by Mr. Peer, that the Board of Health write a letter to Minister Michael Coteau advocating for increased Preschool Speech and Language funding to avoid reduced services and longer wait times. Carried

It was moved by Ms. Fulton, seconded by Mr. Hunter, that the Board of Health close the Family Health Clinic as of June 30, 2017, as outlined in Report No. 022-17FFC. Carried

It was moved by Ms. Fulton, seconded by Mr. Smith, that the Board of Health:
1) Review the 2017–18 Transfer Payment Agreement (attached as Appendix A to Report No. 015-17FFC) and authorize the Board Chair to sign the agreement; and
2) Increase the 2017–18 Shared Library Services Partnership (SLSP) operating budget by $4,210.75 to reflect the increased grant amount.
Carried

It was moved by Ms. Fulton, seconded by Mr. Peer, that the Board of Health:
1) Receive Report No. 016-17FFC for information; and
2) Recommend that the Board Chair sign Amending Agreement No. 6 to the Public Health Funding and Accountability Agreement as appended.
Carried

It was moved by Ms. Fulton, seconded by Ms. Vanderheyden, that the Board of Health:
1) Authorize the Board Chair to sign the Contribution Agreement when it is received; and
2) Approve the revision of the 2017 operating budget to include $82,924 in one-hundred-percent funding received from the Public Health Agency of Canada to help address the high-risk injection drug use in Middlesex-London, as outlined in Appendix A.
Carried

Discussion ensued about coordination of activities between all agencies that will be receiving funding from the shared grant.

Ms. Shaya Dhinsa answered questions about the coordination of work with other agencies that are receiving funds, such as the Regional HIV/AIDS Connection (RHAC) and the London InterCommunity Health Centre (LIHC). Ms. Dhinsa explained how these agencies with work with MLHU to address gaps, coordinate outreach work and sit together at the HIV leadership table.

It was moved by Ms. Fulton, seconded by Ms. Cassidy, that the Board of Health approve the renewal of the group insurance rates administered by Great-West Life as described in Report No. 018-17FFC. Carried

It was moved by Ms. Fulton, seconded by Mr. Hunter, that the Board of Health receive the verbal Dental Clinic report for information. Carried

It was moved by Ms. Fulton, seconded by Mr. Peer, that the Board of Health increase the Board member compensation rate for a half-day meeting to $151.49 retroactively to January 1, 2017. Carried

It was moved by Ms. Fulton, seconded by Ms. Cassidy, that the Board of Health receive Report No. 020-17FFC re: Q1 Financial Update and Factual Certificate for information. Carried

Ms. Fulton informed the Board of Health that the FFC reviewed Report No. 021-17FFC, which included governance policies for the Committee’s feedback. Staff will forward this feedback to the Governance Committee.

The FFC will resume its confidential meeting regarding a proposed or pending acquisition of land by the Middlesex-London Board of Health tomorrow at 10:45 a.m. All Board members are welcome to attend.

The next regularly scheduled FFC meeting will be on Thursday, June 8, 2017, at 10:00 a.m.

Ms. Fulton mentioned that the Auditor’s report, which would normally come to FFC, will come directly to the June 15, 2017 Board of Health meeting, since the Auditor is unable to attend the rescheduled FFC meeting.

Delegation and Recommendation Reports

Enhancing Harm-Reduction Services to Increase Access to Clean Needles and Other Supplies (Report No. 027-17)

Discussion ensued on the following items:
• Clarification of the report’s purpose, and whether RHAC is following the best practices.
• Dr. Hovhannisyan trusts that RHAC follows the best practices, namely provincially recognized sites for harm reduction and piloting various products for harm reduction.
• There are still gaps and unsafe injection practices happening across the city.
• What does and does not work in addressing safe injection and harm reduction for people who inject drugs.
• London has a high rate of daily injectors; the official number may in fact be low, given what we know about what’s happening in terms of injection drug use.

It was moved by Mr. Meyer, seconded by Mr. Clarke, that the Board of Health:
1) Receive Report No. 027-17 re: Enhancing Harm Reduction Services to Increase Access to Clean Needles and Other Supplies for information; and
2) Endorse the Regional HIV/AIDS Connection (RHAC) funding submission to the AIDS Bureau, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC), to request additional support to enhance harm-reduction services and direct staff to forward the endorsement to the MOHLTC.
Carried

Information Reports

Summary Information Report, May 2017 (Report No. 028-17)

It was moved by Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Hunter, that the Board of Health receive Report No. 028-17 re: Summary Information Report, May 2017 for information. Carried

Ms. Heather Lokko answered questions. Discussion ensued on the length of the current wait list.

Acting Medical Officer of Health / Acting Chief Executive Officer Activity Report, May 2017 (Report No. 029-17)

Ms. Vanderheyden thanked staff for attending Middlesex Municipal Day in April.

It was moved by Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Hunter, that the Board of Health receive Report No. 029-17 re: Acting Medical Officer of Health / Acting Chief Executive Officer Activity Report, May 2017. Carried

Other Business

• Next Finance & Facilities Committee meetings: Friday, May 19, at 10:45 a.m. and Thursday, June 8, 2017, at 10:00 a.m.
• Next Board of Health meeting: Thursday, June 15, 2017, at 7:00 p.m.
• Next Governance Committee meeting: Thursday, June 15, 2017, at 6:00 p.m.

Correspondence

It was moved by Mr. Clarke, seconded by Ms. Fulton, that the Board of Health receive items a) through c) and e) through n). Carried

It was moved by Mr. Clarke, seconded by Ms. Fulton, that the Board of Health endorse item d). Carried

Confidential

At 7:57 p.m., Chair Helmer invited a motion to move in-camera to discuss matters regarding labour negotiations, identifiable individuals, and to consider confidential minutes from its April 20 meeting and May 4 Finance & Facilities Committee meeting.

At 7:58 p.m., it was moved by Mr. Hunter, seconded by Mr. Peer, that the Board of Health move in-camera to discuss matters regarding labour relations and employee negotiations, identifiable individuals, and to consider confidential minutes from its April 20 meeting and May 4 Finance & Facilities Committee meeting. Carried

At 7:58 p.m., all visitors and Health Unit staff except for Ms. Laura Di Cesare, Dr. Gayane Hovhannisyan, Ms. Elizabeth Milne, Mr. John Millson, Ms. Heather Lokko, Ms. Suzanne Vandervoort, Mr. Stephen Turner and Ms. Debbie Shugar left the meeting.

At 9:00 p.m., it was moved by Mr. Smith, seconded by Ms. Vanderheyden, that the Board of Health rise and return to public session. Carried

At 9:00 p.m., the Board of Health returned to public session.

Chair Helmer reminded the Board about the upcoming Association of Local Public Health Agencies (alPHa) annual general meeting from June 11 to 13, and invited any Board members wishing to attend to contact Elizabeth Milne to register. Chair Helmer also directed Board members to contact Ms. Milne if they are interested in playing in the Health Unit’s Annual Charity Golf Tournament on June 22, in support of the United Way of London & Middlesex.

Adjournment

At 9:01 p.m., it was moved by Ms. Vanderheyden, seconded by Mr. Smith, that the meeting be adjourned. Carried

JESSE HELMER
Chair

LAURA DI CESARE
Secretary-Treasurer