November 2019 Board Meeting - Minutes

Meeting Document Type
Minutes

Board Members Present:

Gary McNamara, Joe Bachetti, Tracey Bailey, Rino Bortolin, Fabio Costante (4:11 pm), Dr. Deborah Kane (4:17 pm), Judy Lund (via phone), John Scott, Ed Sleiman, Larry Snively ​​​​​​

Board Member Regrets:

Gary Kaschak

Administration Present:

Theresa Marentette, Dr. Wajid Ahmed, Lorie Gregg, Nicole Dupuis, Kristy McBeth, Dan Sibley, Lee Anne Damphouse

Staff Present:

Alexis Erickson, Mike Janisse, Stacey Manzerolle, Neil MacKenzie, Jen Jershey, Nicole Trajkovski, Phil Wong, Adrina Zhong (WECHU medical student)

Guests:

Claudia Den Boer, CMHA

QUORUM:  Confirmed

  1. Call to Order
    Board Chair, Gary McNamara, called the meeting to order at 4:03 p.m.
  2. Agenda Approval
    Moved by: Ed Sleiman
    Seconded by: Rino Bortolin
    That the agenda be approved.
    CARRIED
  3. Announcement of Conflicts of Interest – None
  4. Presentations
    1. Climate Change (Dr. W. Ahmed)
      Dr. W. Ahmed brought forward a report on Climate change. Climate change has been noted as the biggest global health threat of the 21st century. It is defined as the long-term shift in weather conditions such as temperature, precipitation, extreme weather events and rising sea levels, and is expected to result in warmer temperatures, longer and hotter summers, more frequent and severe weather events such as tornados, hurricanes, thunderstorms, wildfires, floods and droughts.
      Health impacts of climate change are also felt by indirect exposure through various contamination pathways, transmission dynamics, agroecosystems, socioeconomics, demographics causing more air pollution, extreme weather related illness and death, water and food-borne diseases, ticks, vector-borne diseases and rodent-borne diseases, effects on crops causing food, water shortages, population displacement, and flooding.
      Effects of climate change are prevalent in our own region with periods of extended heat and the blue-green algae bloom in our lakes, the presence of invasive mosquito species not commonly found in our area and multiple 100-year storm events (significant rainfall) resulting in flooding.
      Public health plays a role in climate change through the 2018 Ontario Public Health Standards by following the 2018 Health Environments and Climate Change Guidelines which include assessing the heath vulnerability status of their communities, monitoring the impacts of climate change to inform local vulnerability plans, and engaging and collaborating with municipal stakeholders to address local impacts.
      The Windsor Essex Climate Change Collaborative is a partnership between local municipalities, the County of Essex, the WECHU, the University of Windsor and the Essex Regional Conservation Authority (ERCA) to address regional climate change vulnerabilities and risks facing various different sectors. The City of Windsor has updated their Climate Change Adaptation Plan and 444 Canadian municipalities have Climate Emergency Declarations (including Vancouver, Ottawa, Chatham-Kent, Sudbury, Sarnia, Guelph and Kingston just to name a few. Local declarations are the City of Windsor, Town of Amherstburg, County of Essex and the Town of Tecumseh.
      WECHU’s Next steps relevant to climate change activities include:
      •Completion of a Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Assessment Report (2019)
      •Participate with municipalities and other community agencies in local climate change planning processes
      •Develop and implement a stakeholder and community education and engagement plan
      •Develop resources for residents to increase knowledge of local climate change impacts
      •A Resolution on the Local Impacts of Climate Change be passed and that the Windsor-Essex County Board of Health adopt and implement climate change initiatives and programs that support municipalities and local organizations, both public and private, to take climate action and raise the public’s awareness about the health impacts of climate change in order to drive individual behaviour change in support of climate change action
      Dr. W. Ahmed acknowledged WECHU’s Environmental Health team for their work on this presentation.
    2. Mental Health (N. Dupuis)
      N. Dupuis brought forward a report on Mental Health Promotion (MHP) in Windsor-Essex. MHP is the process of enhancing the capacity of individuals and communities to increase control over their lives and improve their mental health. By working to increase self-esteem, coping skills, social connectedness and well-being, MHP empowers people and communities to interact with their environments in ways that enhance emotional and spiritual strength.
      In 2017, the WECHU and the Canadian Mental Health Association established a strategic partnership focused on mental health promotion and positive mental health and well-being. In 2018, the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care released the Mental Health Promotion Guide as part of the modernized public health standards.
      There is a need to understand the MHP landscape in Windsor-Essex. The goals of intervention are to affect modifiable social determinants of mental health in order to promote positive mental health outcomes. Mapping MHP activities along individual, social and structure domains will also identify areas of strength, and potential gaps in MHP coverage for the region as a whole and for priority populations. In order to facilitate a better understanding of what services are being offered in our community, a service map was developed and an environmental scan conducted. The service map allows users to visualize service providers and their programs, connections between organizations and existing referral pathways.
      Next steps:
      •Share the report and recommendations with stakeholders
      •Communicate and collaborate with community partners and organizations involved with MHP
      •Inform future MHP programming based on community needs
      •Build strategic goals and action plans based on findings from the environmental scan
      •Adopt a shared indicator framework for measuring processes and outcomes
      •Advocate for further resources for MHP
      We need to acknowledge that we have some very serious issues related to mental health, and not just locally. Rino Bortolin noted issues around addictions tied to mental health, and put forward a motion that WECHU administration identify advocacy components to bring to the Ministry of Health. The WECHU administration will follow up with an Advocacy letter to the Ministry to send a strong message and advocate for those suffering with addictions and funding for mental health.
      Moved by: Rino Bortolin
      Seconded by: Dr. Debbie Kane
      That the WECHU compose an Advocacy Letter around mental health concerns to the Ministry of Health
      CARRIED
      Moved by: Rino Bortolin
      Seconded by: Dr. Debbie Kane
      To accept the presentation as received
      CARRIED
  5. Approval of Minutes
    1. Regular Board Meeting: October 17, 2019
    2. Special Meeting of the Board: November 4, 2019
      Moved by: Joe Bachetti
      Seconded by: John Scott
      That the minutes be approved.
      CARRIED
  6. Consent Agenda
    1. INFORMATION REPORTS
      The following information reports were presented to the Board.
      1. Mental Health Promotion Framework for Windsor-Essex: Introduction and Next Steps
        Brought to the Board for information.
      2. Influenza Season 2019/2020 (K. McBeth)
        Brought to the Board for information.
      3. School Based Immunization Clinics 2019/2020 School Year (K. McBeth)
        Brought to the Board for information.
      4. Media Recap
        Brought to the Board for information.

      Moved by: Rino Bortolin
      Seconded by: Larry Snively
      That the Information Reports be received.
      CARRIED

    2. RECOMMENDATION/RESOLUTION REPORTS
      1. Local Response to Climate Change (K. McBeth)
        K. McBeth brought forward the Climate Change Resolution for Board of Health approval.
        Moved by: Rino Bortolin
        Seconded by: Fabio Costante
        That the Recommendation/Resolution Report be supported.
        CARRIED
  7. Business Arising – None
  8. Board Correspondence – Circulated
  9. New Business
    1. CEO Quarterly Compliance (T. Marentette)
      The CEO Quarterly Compliance Reports from July 1, 2019 to September 30, 2019 and April 1, 2019 to June 30, 2019 have been signed by CEO, T. Marentette. The April to June report acknowledged the ONA labour disruption in the spring.
      Moved by: Joe Bachetti
      Seconded by: Ed Sleiman
      That the above information be received.
      CARRIED
  10. Other Board of Health Resolutions/Letters – None
  11. Committee of the Whole (CLOSED SESSION, in accordance with Section 239 of the Municipal Act)
    The Board moved into Committee of the Whole at 4:43 pm
    The Board moved out of Committee of the Whole at 5:01 pm
  12. Next Meeting: At the Call of the Chair, or December 19, 2019 in Windsor, Ontario
  13. Adjournment
    Moved by: John Scott
    Seconded by: Rino Bortolin
    That the meeting be adjourned
    CARRIED
    The meeting adjourned at 5:02 pm.

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