Dr. Ken Blanchette
Chief Executive Officer
2023 was a year of growth and perseverance for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.
Staff were able to return their focus to our core programs, strengthening partnerships and delivering their valuable services to the Windsor-Essex community. Our dental programs continued to thrive, offering screening and treatments to children and older adults in our offices. Public health nurses were in schools delivering programs to improve student’s nutrition skills and their mental health. Expectant and new parents received important information to support the health of their babies, as well as themselves. Over the year, staff worked diligently towards our mission of promoting, protecting, and improving the health and well-being of the people in our community.
Following the pandemic, public health was primarily recognized for its role in disease prevention, but many of our other great services were unknown. To communicate the various programs and services offered by the WECHU, the Supporting Better Health for All corporate campaign was launched. This initiative enabled us to gain insight around the community’s knowledge of, and experiences with, the WECHU. One of the main purposes of the corporate campaign was to raise awareness around the multi-faceted ways we support better health for all to enable residents to find the information and programs they need from public health.
A true testament to the resilience of our team is their ongoing commitment to their work when facing adversity. Several challenging decisions had to be made at the end of the year and it was inspiring to see the cohesion within our departments and the support our staff offered one another. The departments responded quickly, developing new ways to ensure their programs continue to reach the community. The caring nature in which everyone overcame these challenges is one of the many reasons I am proud to be part of this organization.
I want to express my gratitude towards the terrific staff at the WECHU. Every member of the team plays an important role in enhancing the health of Windsor-Essex residents. Additionally, I would like to acknowledge and thank the members of the Board of Health for their continued support and guidance. I am excited and optimistic to see the progress our teams will make in the coming years.