PREPARED BY: Planning and Strategic Initiatives
DATE: 2025-02-06
SUBJECT: Q4 Board of Health Effectiveness Survey Summary
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE
The Ontario Public Health Standards (2021), under the Good Governance and Management Practices Domain, states: “the board of health shall have a self-evaluation process of its governance practices…”.
In addition to a yearly self-evaluation process, the WECHU has developed a quarterly self-assessment survey for Board of Health (BoH) members. The survey provides an opportunity for feedback on BoH operations and is used to inform quality improvement efforts
DISCUSSION
There were 11 completed surveys received from BoH members related to 4th quarter effectiveness.
Responses related to BoH operations continue to be very positive overall. In all categories, responses were ‘Agree’, ‘Strongly Agree’, or ‘Don’t Know/Unsure’. In terms of overall perceived BoH effectiveness, responses are slightly higher from Q3 to Q4 and ranged from a score of 8 to 10 (compared to 7 to 10 in Q3) with an average score of 9.2 (Q3 average score was 8.7).
Suggestions for improvement included:
- Increased regularity of meetings, e.g. meetings that occur at the same time and same day of the month.
- Sharing information via email instead of by iPad.
- Preparing board members with relevant materials at least 2 weeks prior to meetings.
- Re-evaluating some of the no smoking bylaws in public parks.
- Increase education to those with mental health concerns about the available services in our community.
- Collaborate with others to provide help to those who live and congregate in the area near the downtown health unit office.
Additional comment:
- Overall impression that this Board is effective and functions well.