Report No. 006-12

TO: Chair and Members of the Board of Health
FROM: Graham L. Pollett, MD, FRCPC, Medical Officer of Health
DATE: 2012 January 19

Medical Officer of Health Activity Report – January

Recommendation

It is recommended that Report No. 006-12 re Medical Officer of Health Activity Report – January be received for information.

The following report highlights activities of the Medical Officer of Health since the last Board of Health meeting.

Activities related to the 2012 Budget have dominated since the last Board of Health meeting. A special meeting of the Board of Health Executive was held to discuss developments since the Board of Health approved the 2012 Budget submission in October 2011. Further details are provided in Report No. 002-12, this agenda. The Medical Officer of Health and Mr. John Millson, Director, Finance and Operations, attended the City of London Council Services Review Committee meeting January 18^th. A verbal update on the outcome of this meeting will be provided at the January 19^th Board of Health meeting. Also, the Medical Officer of Health and Mr. Millson have been continuing with one on one meetings with members of City Council to provide information and answers questions regarding the Board of Health approved 2012 Budget.

Work is continuing on the implementation of the Board of Health Strategic Plan. An all Management meeting was held January 17^th to discuss proposed priorities for implementation of the Ontario Public Health Standards. Strategic achievement groups have been established to address the strategic plan directions. The composition of each Group and its Terms of Reference were highlighted as part of the meeting. This will be the subject of a February Board of Health meeting report.

An orientation session was held for Mr. David Bolton, who was recently appointed by Middlesex County Council to the Board of Health, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of Mr. Don Shipway. Mr. Bolton, in addition to being a member of Middlesex County Council, is the Mayor of the Municipality of Adelaide Metcalfe.

The Medical Officer of Health participated in 2 media events involving the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, The Honourable Deb Matthews. The first of these was the provincial announcement of the expansion of the “I See, I Learn” vision screening program. The second event concerned the “Driven To Quit” provincial smoking cessation initiative. The Medical Officer of Health provided remarks at both events. 

The Medical Officer of Health together with Mr. Wally Adams, Director, Environmental Health and Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention Services; Mr. Iqbal Kalsi, Manager, Environmental Health; and Ms. Elizabeth Milne, Vector Borne Diseases Team, participated in a public meeting at the North Middlesex Community Centre in Parkhill regarding mosquito abatement activities – past and future. This was a follow up to the public meeting held July 19^th. A verbal update will be provided at the January 19^th Board of Health meeting.

Other meetings involving the Medical Officer of Health since the last Board meeting included:

attendance at a Middlesex Municipal Association Board of Directors meeting; attendance at Mayor Joe Fontana’s State of the City Breakfast Address; Chairing of a Healthline.ca Board of Directors meeting; attendance at the Hutton House Let’s Grow Program volunteers celebration; and participation in the Chief Medical Officer of Health – Medical Officer of Health teleconference meeting. The Medical Officer of Health also took a week’s vacation.

Graham L. Pollett, MD, FRCPC
Medical Officer of Health