PREPARED BY:
Planning and Strategic Initiatives
DATE:
2024-05-16
SUBJECT:
Q1 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
Responses from the first quarter of 2024 related to BoH operations were positive. In all categories, responses were ‘Agree’ or ‘Strongly Agree’ or ‘Don’t Know/Unsure’. In terms of overall perceived BoH effectiveness, responses ranged from 8 to 10 (on a 10-point scale), with an average score of 9.
Suggestions for improvement included:
- Providing paper copies of agendas at meetings and email notifications when minutes are available.
- Email notifications when there are impending issues in the media to which BoH members need to be made aware.
- More frequent board meetings.
- Enhanced financial reporting at each meeting.
- Routine updates that provide outcome data demonstrating the effectiveness of WECHU work.