November 2020 Board Meeting

Meeting held via video.

DATE:

November, 2020

SUBJECT:

Consumption and Treatment Services Site – Application Status

BACKGROUND

On April 1, 2019  the Board of Health of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) passed a resolution in support of public health-led assessment of the feasibility of a Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) site in the City of Windsor. In September of the same year, following the release of the Supervised Injection Services Community Consultations Report, the Board of Health subsequently resolved in support of the submission of an application for the creation of a site in the City of Windsor. This application to the provincial Ministry of Health would be accompanied by a corresponding submission to the Federal Government for an exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, an additional necessary component for the legal operation of a CTS site. In addition, the September resolution supported the completion of a comprehensive community consultation to determine a suitable and accessible location for a CTS site in the City of Windsor

In order to facilitate this process, a CTS Stakeholder Advisory Committee was created including membership from the following agencies representing the multiple sectors with vested interest in the creation of a CTS:

• The City of Windsor
• The AIDS Committee of Windsor (Pozitive Pathways Community Services)
• Windsor-Essex Community Health Centre
• Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare
• Canadian Mental Health Agency – Windsor-Essex County
• Windsor Police Services
• Windsor Downtown Mission

The WECHU also hired a Substance Use Coordinator to lead the site selection process and completion of the application. The coordinator role was initially responsible for facilitating the decision-making process amongst the Stakeholder Advisory Committee ultimately establishing the criteria and requirements for an eligible site. These requirements acomplement the mandatory criteria set out in the federal and provincial application documents and are outlined below:

• Site must be 200m from a sensitive land use (e.g. parks, daycare centers, and schools) as well as 600m from other CTS sites OR If  located within 200m of a sensitive land use, application must include plans on how to address community concerns
• Site must be easily accessible by public transit
• Site must be within walking distance to areas known to be frequented by people who use drugs
• Space should be greater than 590ft2 (for six consumption booths) or 385ft2 (for three booths)

Using these criteria, and in consultation with WECHU legal representation and procurement procedures, the WECHU issued a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEOI) through the MERX Online Public Tenders solicitation database. With an expiry period of one week, the initial RFEOI did not result in any responses. A second, more widely promoted RFEOI was issued and received media coverage from all local major media outlets. Per the health unit’s standard procurement process the WECHU hosted an information Session with two interested parties to answer questions and provide further information on the site criteria and selection process. Ultimately, however this tender also expired without any submissions.

CURRENT INITIATIVES

With the RFEOI process not yielding any potential locations, the WECHU is once again consulting with the CTS Stakeholder Committee and working through the Substance Use Coordinator to determine if there is mutual interest in a shared space among partners. In addition, the WECHU will be reviewing eligible properties and hiring a Real Estate representative in order to guide an equitable and transparent strategy for proactively contacting property owners and managers who appear to meet the set criteria.

Prior to community consultations, environmental audits will be completed by Windsor Police Services in order to determine the safety of the area and guide any mitigating interventions which can improve the safety of the areas surrounding the site and discourage criminal activity.

Community consultations may include open Town Hall Meetings to all residents, as well as targetted meetings in the neighbourhoods in which the sites reside, and online surveys for residents who are unable to attend in-person meetings. Following the consultation process, any decisions regarding the site will require both Board of Health approval and the approval of the Municipality prior to the submission of the final CTS application.

SUBMITTED BY:

Environmental Health Department

DATE:

November 9, 2020

SUBJECT:

Potassium Iodide (KI) Tablet Distribution Continues during COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

The Windsor and Essex County (WEC) region is located within the primary and secondary zones of two (2) nuclear installations – the Enrico Fermi 2 and the Davis-Besse. Although both installations are not located within Canadian borders, the impact they have on our region is the same in the event a nuclear emergency occurs.

According to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), all nuclear installations must ensure that potassium iodide tablets are pre-distributed and that pre-distribution includes a public education plan. Potassium iodide tablets are a stable iodine salt that blocks the thyroid from absorbing radioactive iodine during a nuclear incident. In the improbable event of a nuclear emergency, residents will receive instructions from local and provincial authorities to take their tablets to prevent the long-term development of thyroid cancer.

Since the Enrico Fermi 2 Nuclear Generating Station and the Davis – Besse Nuclear Power Station are not regulated by the CNSC, the responsibility for potassium iodide tablet distribution falls on the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU), the Municipalities of Windsor and Essex County, and the Ministry of Health. In 2018, the WECHU acquired over 17,000 potassium iodide (KI) kits and coordinated a multi-phase approach that involved distribution to primary and secondary zone residents. Almost 3600 kits were distributed to residents during the first two phases, with an online registration and distribution method implemented for the 2019 season. A targeted communication campaign was completed in 2019, which focused on families with young children in the primary and secondary zone resulting in the distribution of an additional 6500 potassium iodide (KI) kits within the community.

CURRENT INITIATIVES

The ongoing distribution plan for KI tablets in 2020 was met a number of challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic including post office delays and lack of volunteers to support community pick up centres. Despite some of these barriers, the WECHU has disseminated kits to over 10,600 households in our region this year. Distribution for the 2020 season ended in October due to temperature changes in the environment and will resume in the spring of 2021. The 2021 season, will see additional engagement with stakeholders such as schools, businesses and municipally owned buildings to discuss supply planning and storage in the event of a nuclear emergency.

SUBMITTED BY:

Healthy Schools Department (Immunization)

DATE:

November 9, 2020

SUBJECT:

Student Immunization Catch-Up Plan (Grade 7/8)

BACKGROUND

By law, the Immunization of Schools Pupils Act (ISPA) R.S.O.1990 requires children and adolescents attending primary or secondary school to be appropriately immunized against designated diseases, unless they have a valid exemption. Local public health units are mandated to keep and assess immunization records for every student attending school in their region, and provide provincially funded immunization programs through school-based clinics.

Due to COVID-19, a novel highly contagious respiratory virus, the Ontario Government closed all publicly funded schools from March to September 2020.  As a result of these closures, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) could not implement the spring school-based immunization clinics scheduled for grade 7/8 students. In order to support widespread availability of publicly funded vaccines to protect children from Hepatitis B, HPV, and Meningococcal Disease (Men-C-ACYW135), the WECHU has been working collaboratively with local healthcare providers to ensure students have access to these vaccines in the community. Since May 2020, the WECHU vaccine distribution team has fulfilled school-based vaccine orders from community healthcare providers to administer catch-up vaccines for 1383 students.

CURRENT INITIATIVES

The WECHU will be hosting a series of catch-up clinics beginning on November 2, 2020 to service families with children born in 2006/2007 that were not able to receive their school-based immunizations from the WECHU in spring 2020 or their primary healthcare provider during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. These clinics are part of a larger Healthy Schools Department strategy aimed at reducing barriers for clients, especially priority populations; and ultimately decreasing the number of students that are behind on their vaccinations. Families will be able to book an appointment during the day, afternoons, evenings, and weekends at the Windsor or Leamington office, or a convenient location in the community. The WECHU will be preparing tailored communications to update families, healthcare providers, school board liaisons, and school administrators regarding options available to students who require immunizations.

The WECHU is also in the process of adapting the delivery method of our immunization education sessions under the Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) to an e-Learning format. Since 2017, a mandatory immunization education session has been a requirement under the ISPA O.Reg 645 for parents seeking a non-medical exemption for their child. These education sessions were historically required to be delivered in-person, but the Ministry of Health has recently eliminated this requirement. Currently, there are about 50 clients on our waiting list. 

SUBMITTED BY:

Communications Department

DATE:

November 9, 2020

SUBJECT:

October Communications Recap

October Metrics

Media Exposure

Media Participating in Teleconference for YouTube Live

• AM 800 CKLW, Blackburn News, CBC Windsor, and The Windsor Star join every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On occasion, CTV Windsor and windsoriteDOTca will also join the briefing.

Current Notable Projects

•  Microsoft Power BI was implemented on the COVID-19 Local Data webpage led by the Epidemiology and Evaluation department. Continuous Improvements occur to the webpage.
• We helped launch the COVID-19 Monitoring Indicators for Windsor-Essex to align with the province’s Framework for Reopening our Province. The 3 colour system is used to help residents know the current local pandemic status.
• Radon – Know Your Level messages are being promoted on social media throughout the month of November.
• We are working on a local flu shot campaign to complement the provincial roll out of their upcoming campaign.

Data Notes:

Most requests are related to the local COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Media requests received is a compiled list of documented requests we captured for interviews, data clarification, or general request for information from the media. Given the volume of requests during COVID-19, many exchanges with the media through text messages or quick phone calls to correct errors may not be captured. In many instances, each request led to multiple interactions with reporters.
2. Dr. Ahmed joined Mike and Lisa on the AM 800 Morning Drive every morning at 8:06 a.m. starting on Wednesday, March 17. On August 17, we went to a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday schedule with holidays off. He continues to do join Mike and Lisa every other morning to keep the community informed.
3. We changed the platform we broadcasted live videos from Facebook to YouTube at the end of June. YouTube Live videos started on June 23, 2020. Prior Public Health Update videos on YouTube were exported videos recorded through Facebook Live.
4. Website analytics are provided by Siteimprove. The metric provided is for page views to COVID-19 Local Updates Page. During the COVID-19 pandemic, changes were made to landing pages. For consistency in reporting, the most popular page was selected.
5. Email subscribers are those individuals who signed up to receive promotional emails from the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit. The analytics are provided through Mailchimp.
6. Social media metrics are provided through Hootsuite.
7. Graphs and media exposure information in this report were generated using Meltwater Media Monitoring Solution. Significant changes in numbers can be partially attributed to configuration changes made to the new service to better monitor and report media activity. News stories may be duplicates or missing as the platform is currently being optimized to better track Windsor-Essex County Health Unit mentions in the media landscape.

Board Members Present:

Gary McNamara, Tracey Bailey, Joe Bachetti, Rino Bortolin, Fabio Costante, Dr. Debbie Kane, Gary Kaschak (via phone), Judy Lund, John Scott, Ed Sleiman, Larry Snively

Board Member Regrets:

N/A

Administration

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

QUORUM:  Confirmed

RECORDING SECRETARY:

SUBMITTED BY:

APPROVED BY: