Board of Health Meeting Documents

An FAQ document that provides answers to commonly asked questions about the provincial (CTS) and federal (Supervised Consumption Services) application and program requirements.

An accessible version of this document will be posted when available.

An accessible version of this document will be posted when available.

An accessible version of this document will be posted when available.

Results from a community consultation study conducted by the WECHU, in partnership with the Windsor-Essex Community Opioid & Substance Strategy and the CTS Stakeholder Advisory Committee, in 2021 that yielded community support/acceptance and demonstrated a local need for establishing a CTS at 101 Wyandotte Street East in the City of Windsor.

An accessible version of this document will be posted when available.

An accessible version of this document will be posted when available.

Letters in support of the proposed CTS operations at 101 Wyandotte Street East are being submitted on behalf of the following agencies:

• Brentwood Recovery Home – Elizabeth Dulmage, Executive Director
• Canadian Mental Health Association – Windsor-Essex County Branch – Dr. Sonja Grbevski, Chief Executive Officer
• Conseil Scolaire Catholique Providence – Joseph Picard, Director of Education
• The Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association – Pat Papadeas – Acting Chair
• Essex-Windsor Emergency Medical Services (EMS) – Chief Bruce Krauter
• Family Services Windsor-Essex – Joyce Zuk, Executive Director
• Legal Assistance of Windsor – Marion Overholt, Executive Director
• Pozitive Pathways Community Services – Michael Brennan, Executive Director
• REACT Windsor-Essex – Robert Cameron, Executive Director
• Windsor Essex Community Health Centre – Rita Taillefer, Executive Director
• Windsor Police Service – Jason Bellaire, Chief of Police
• Windsor Regional Hospital – Jonathan Foster, Vice President of Emergency, Trauma, Mental Health, Cancer Services, & Renal

An accessible version of this document will be posted when available.

Meeting held via video: https://youtu.be/4H0fxliV3RM

PREPARED BY:

Healthy Schools Department - Immunization

DATE:

January 19, 2023

SUBJECT:

Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) Catch up and Enforcement in Elementary Schools and Grade 7 In-School Immunizations

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE

In Ontario, the Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) R.S.O. 1990, requires children and adolescents attending primary or secondary school to be immunized against mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, meningococcal, varicella and polio, or have a valid Medical, Conscience or Religious Belief exemption on file at the Health Unit. As outlined in the Ontario Public Health Standards (OPHS), health units in Ontario are required to have a complete immunization record, or a valid exemption on file, for every student attending school in their area.

DISCUSSION

ISPA Enforcement in Elementary Schools

The Windsor and Essex County School Board Liaison Committee and representatives from private schools were surveyed about their recent experience with the secondary student school ISPA enforcement process. The results of that survey, which indicated that additional communication resources at the school level, were embedded in the planning process for 2023 activities. A Communication Workgroup has been established with communications staff from the four local school boards and the WECHU. The working group has collaborated on a communication plan for the ISPA-based catch up and enforcement activities planned for elementary school students in the 2022-2023 school year. The plan includes new resources and messages catering to the specific needs of local elementary school communities.

The WECHU has reviewed immunization records for students attending elementary school in Windsor and Essex County, as mandated by the ISPA. As of December 12, 2022, there were more than 12,000 students in the birth cohort years between 2009 and 2018 who were either overdue for one or more of the ISPA-based vaccines or who had not submitted their updated records to the WECHU. The parent(s)/guardian(s) of these students received an immunization notice in December, informing them of their child’s missing vaccines along with information on how and where to receive any missing vaccinations and/or how to update the child’s records.

The WECHU is hosting catch-up immunization clinics for eligible students from December to March to service families with children born between 2009 and 2018. Parents/guardians can book an appointment for their child at either the WECHU’s Windsor or Leamington office by phone at 519-960-0231 or online at wechu.org/getimmunized. Over 30 immunization clinics were held in the WECHU offices in December. In January, the WECHU will continue to provide daily clinics in its 2 offices, with after school hour clinics at both sites. As of January 9, 2023 there are 9,069 elementary school students at risk of school suspension on March 20, 2023.

Families can also contact their health care provider to receive any missing vaccinations and are reminded to update their child’s immunization records online. The WECHU is working with local health care providers to provide them with the necessary vaccines and ensure their patients’ records are updated.

As part of the strategy to reach parents/guardians, the WECHU developed a detailed communications plan that included news releases, social media posts, a 211 email blast, and paid Facebook and Google ads. To reach Arabic speaking parents, an Arabic radio ad will be purchased on CINA 102.3 FM. Starting December 12th, organic Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram messages were posted on WECHU’s social media channels, ranging from general messaging about the benefits of vaccination, to where to find an immunization clinic and how to update a student’s immunization records. A video of a Public Health Nurse explaining how parents can report their child's immunization record online was created. A short form of this video was posted on the WECHU’s website, in order to meet the needs of families who may need additional support when uploading their child’s immunization records.

Grade 7 School Immunization Clinics

According to Ontario’s publicly funded immunization program, public health units offer vaccines for Hepatitis B, Human Papillomavirus (HPV), and Meningococcal Disease to students in Grade 7 at no cost each year through the school-based immunization program. The Meningococcal vaccine is an ISPA-required vaccine to attend school in Ontario; Hepatitis B and HPV vaccines are not required, they are highly recommended.

School-based immunization clinics for Grade 7 students have returned to the regular pre-pandemic schedule for the 2022-2023 school year. The in-school clinics were offered to all Grade 7 classes in Windsor and Essex County and started on October 20. The WECHU team has provided 3,349 doses of meningococcal vaccine (i.e., Men C ACYW), 2,519 doses of Hepatitis B vaccine, and 2,728 doses of HPV vaccine so far this school year. The second round of clinics is scheduled for the spring.

PREPARED BY:

Communications Department

DATE:

January 19, 2023

SUBJECT:

November 15 – December 14, 2022 Communications Update

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE:

Provide regular marketing and communication updates to the Board of Health.

Data Notes can be provided upon request

Media Exposure Overview Graph

Website Overview Graph

Social Media Overview Graph

Note: Twitter experienced a large drop in users following Elon Musk’s purchase and take over of the platform at the end of October. User drop-off has been on-going, and is projected to continue throughout the upcoming year.

DISCUSSION

For six weeks, the Communications Department supported Environmental Health with the promotion of Foods Safety At Home. The campaign ran for a total of eight weeks and included Google Display ads and radio ads, as well as organic (unpaid) social media posts.

The focus of the campaign was to increase food safety knowledge among people who are preparing food at home – for themselves and others. Messages contained educational information and directed viewers to food safety webpages.

The Google Display ads logged a total of 51,353 impressions (e.g., the number of times the ads were on screen), and 590 link clicks. Our website metrics showed a total of 785 page views (696 unique page views) for the Food Safety At Home webpage.

Board Members Present:

Renaldo Agostino, Joe Bachetti, Fabio Costante, J. Lund, Hilda Macdonald, R. Maich, Angelo Marignani, Michael Prue, Rob Shepley

Board Member Regrets:

Fred Francis

Please contact us if you require this presentation in an alternate format.

Please contact us if you require this presentation in an alternate format.

Meeting held via video: https://youtu.be/34y5kioi6GY

PREPARED BY:

Communications Department

DATE:

November 10, 2022

SUBJECT:

September 15 – October 14, 2022 Communications Update

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE:

Provide regular marketing and communication updates to the Board of Health.

Data Notes can be provided upon request

Media Exposure Overview Graph

Website Overview Graph

DISCUSSION

A series of ads was created to promote the Legacy for Children Parenting Program, administered by the Healthy Families Department.

The campaign ran for 13 days, and over this timeframe, the ad had a total reach of 5,068 people with 14,888 total impressions.

The Communications department also updated The WECHU’s Strategic Plan which involved redesigning the files, creating web images, and making it accessible via wechu.org.

The 2022-2025 Strategic Plan was approved at the September Board of Health meeting, and was available online on September 15, 2022.

PREPARED BY:

Epidemiology & Evaluation and Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention

DATE:

Novemeber 10, 2022

SUBJECT:

Windsor and Essex County Living Wage Program

BACKGROUND

Income inequality has been recognized as one of the most significant social determinants contributing to poor population health outcomes. As such, many communities across Ontario, nationally, and internationally have implemented living wage programs to raise awareness, encourage adoption, and advance healthy public policy. A living wage is the minimum amount a person must earn to afford to live and participate in a specific community. In a general sense, it uses a calculation for family living expenses, relative to income from employment or government sources, and deductions from things like Employment Insurance (EI), Canada Pension Plan (CPP) premiums, and Federal/Provincial taxes. A living wage is not the same as the minimum wage, which is the lowest rate an employer can legally pay for work performed.

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) has led the Windsor and Essex County Living Wage program since 2017 and has since certified 35 living wage employers, which are employers that pay their direct staff (full-time and part-time) the living wage in a given year. Certified living wage employers maintain their status for a period of two years and must reapply to be re-certified for another two-year cycle. Certified living wage employers proudly display the “Certified Living Wage” window decal to encourage other businesses to follow suit and often use that as a selling point in recruiting and retaining staff. The overarching goal of this program is to raise awareness about the minimum salary a person would need to earn to have a greater chance of having a basic standard of living in Windsor and Essex County. The program encourages local employers to be a part of the solution and also works to advance policies, partnerships, and practices that promote health and well-being for the community.

For the first time, the Ontario Living Wage Network embarked on developing a first full coverage of the province in living wage rates in 2022. The resulting 10 wage rates reflect “Economic Regions” that can include multiple jurisdictions. Windsor and Essex County are part of the Southwest Economic Region, which includes the Sarnia-Lambton and Chatham-Kent regions. Local data is still sourced from individual communities to develop this shared calculation.

Each year the living wage calculation is updated and shared with the community. The living wage calculation report is intended to provide an overview of the Living Wage, how it is calculated, and the assumptions that are made in the calculations. The 2022 Living Wage calculated for the Southwest Economic Region is $18.15/hour for full and part-time employees. This represents a 9.3% per hour increase over the 2021 Living Wage. Table 1 highlights the local living wage rates compared to the minimum wage rates from 2018 to 2022. Historically, local living wage rates have been higher than the provincial minimum wage rate as the living wage takes into account the actual cost of living in a particular community by considering the cost of food, clothing, shelter, childcare, transportation, medical expenses, recreation, and expenses associated with breaks from work. Worth noting is that, the minimum wage often is too low to lift someone working full-time above the poverty line and the living wage aims to address this.

CURRENT INITATIVE

In order to reach more local employers, enhance promotional capacity, and provide consistency for employers who operate in multiple regions of the province, the WECHU has partnered with the Ontario Living Wage Network (OLWN). In this partnership, the OLWN will be responsible for the certification of local living wage employers at a provincial level, while providing them consistent support in developing and promoting their living wage policies. The WECHU will continue to provide the annual local calculation to OLWN to ensure the local costs are reflected on an annual basis.

Beginning in 2023, the new process for certification will be as follows:

1. Expression of Interest. Local employers will complete the initial contact form through the OLWN. The manager of the OLWN employer program will contact the employer to discuss certification details and answer questions. 
2. Application Review and License Agreement. OLWN review the details of the application and contact the employer to address any questions and determine the level of recognition. The employer will then sign the license agreement and pay the employer certification fee.
3. Certificate Presentation. Once a year, through the local Healthy Workplace Awards ceremony, certified living wage employers will be recognized and provided with their Living Wage certificate.
4. Recognition. OLWN will publicly recognize the organization or business through social media, events, and publications. The business or organization will be listed in the OLWN employer directory and map.
5. Periodic Review. Each year on the anniversary of the certification, the employers will be sent a renewal survey and invoice for the annual employer certification fee. When the living wage calculation is updated in our community, the OLWN will contact the employers to let them know the new rate. Employers have six months to make adjustments once the new rate has been announced.

Board Members Present:

Gary McNamara, Joe Bachetti, Tracey Bailey, Rino Bortolin, Aldo DiCarlo, Gary Kaschak, Judy Lund

Board Member Regrets:

Fabio Costante, Robert Maich, Ed Sleiman

Meeting held via video: https://youtu.be/VE-wNwRmCM4

PREPARED BY:

Healthy Schools Department – Immunization

DATE:

October 20, 2022

SUBJECT:

Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) Enforcement in Secondary Schools and Grade 7 In-School Immunizations

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE

In Ontario, the Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) R.S.O. 1990, requires children and adolescents attending primary or secondary school to be immunized against mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, meningococcal, varicella and polio, or have a valid Medical, Conscience or Religious Belief exemption on file at the Health Unit. As outlined in the Ontario Public Health Standards (OPHS), health units in Ontario are required to have a complete immunization record, or a valid exemption on file, for every student attending school in their area.

DISCUSSION

ISPA Enforcement in Secondary Schools

Beginning in the spring, the WECHU reviewed immunization records for students attending secondary school in Windsor and Essex County, as mandated by the ISPA. In June 2022, 13,254 secondary school students had incomplete immunization records and were either overdue for one or more vaccines or had not submitted their updated records to the WECHU. These students received an immunization notice in June, informing them of their missing vaccines along with information on how and where to receive any missing vaccinations and/or how to update their records. A suspension order was then mailed in early August to any secondary student who had not yet submitted the required immunization information to the WECHU.

Throughout the summer, the WECHU hosted catch-up immunization clinics in all municipalities in Windsor and Essex County, to ensure that these students had the opportunity to complete their vaccine series prior to the 2022/2023 school year and to avoid suspension. The WECHU also worked with local health care providers to provide them with the necessary vaccines and ensure their patients’ records were updated.

In addition to the secondary school student immunization record review, an immunization record review was also conducted for children in kindergarten to grade 3 in early 2022. 8,687 immunization notices were sent to parents informing them of the student’s missing vaccines and encouraging them to get their child vaccinated. The enforcement process (i.e., issuing suspension notices and suspension) for elementary students will begin in 2023.

Prior to enforcing the ISPA through the suspension process, the WECHU worked with local school boards to host onsite immunization clinics in local secondary schools, in addition to the clinics in each municipality and WECHU offices. As part of the strategy to promote these clinics, the WECHU developed a detailed communications plan that included news releases, social media posts, paid Facebook and SnapChat ads, a 211 email blast, and radio ads. From June 1st to August 31st, 54 organic Facebook, Twitter, Instagram messages were posted ranging from general messaging about the benefits of vaccination, to where to find an immunization clinic and how to update a student’s immunization clinics.

In August, 7,554 secondary students still had incomplete immunization records and were mailed suspension orders. As of the suspension deadline on Monday, September 12th, there were 1,519 secondary students who had not provided updated records to the WECHU. These students were suspended on September 14th, 2022. The WECHU has continued to provide walk in clinics and updated records with information received by health care providers and online submissions through ICON.

In order for a student to return to school after being suspended, the student or parent/guardian must provide the WECHU with an updated immunization record. Clinics for students who were suspended have been operational at both WECHU locations with evening and weekend appointment availability to ensure every student has the opportunity to receive their vaccine. Additionally, WECHU nurses have been contacting every student on the suspension list and reviewing their immunization records with them to ensure they are complete. Once the student’s immunization record is up-to-date with the WECHU, the school principal is informed that the student can return to school. This process involves sending a daily up-dated suspension list to every secondary school in Windsor and Essex County. As of October 3rd, 49 students are still suspended for incomplete immunization records.

Grade 7 School Immunization Clinics

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the disruption of regular public health and education services, the WECHU was unable to fully implement in-school immunization programs over the last two years, in particular to students in grades 7 for Hepatitis B, Human Papillomavirus (HPV), and Meningococcal Disease. These vaccines were made available to local health care providers to administer free of charge to eligible patients. However, some families have not been able to visit their health care providers to update their child’s vaccinations due to the pandemic or other external factors.

School-based immunization clinics for Grade 7 students will return to the normal pre-pandemic schedule in the 2022-2023 school year. In-school clinics are being offered starting October 20th to all local schools. As of September 28th, there are 4,455 students eligible for the HPV vaccine, 3,941 students eligible for the Hep-B vaccine, and 4,308 students eligible for the Men-C-ACYW-135 vaccine. Given the student’s previous vaccination history, they may be eligible for one or more of these vaccines. These clinics will be offered this fall and a second round of clinics will be scheduled next spring. These publicly-funded vaccines are free of charge, to eligible Grade 7 students. Parents of Grade 7 students will receive a letter informing them of the date for their school’s clinic. Parents will complete an online consent for the vaccines they want their child to receive and will be informed that the meningococcal vaccine is a required vaccine under the ISPA.

PREPARED BY:

Planning and Strategic Initiatives Department

DATE:

October 20, 2022

SUBJECT:

Renewal Plan Q3 Reporting

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE

At the May 2022 Board of Health meeting, a Renewal and Transformation plan was presented to the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) Board of Health, detailing the short-term priorities and planning expectations for the WECHU for 2022. This plan includes 5 priority renewal efforts in response to the stabilization of the COVID-19 Pandemic response requirements. Those 5 priorities are: Health Assessment and Surveillance, Addressing Backlog of Services, Mental Health and Substance Use, Healthy Growth and Development, and Capacity Building. Beyond these priorities, the plan outlines sustained COVID-19 response efforts as required, based on local needs and Ministry of Health requirements.

DISCUSSION

Since the release of the Renewal and Transformation Plan, departments have developed operational plans aligning with key areas. The progress made on these plans to date includes work spanning from May 2022 until the end of Q3 (September 30th). Overall, 39% of project objectives are complete, 46% of project objectives are in progress, and 15% or project objectives had no progress. Additional reporting on the progress related to the Renewal and Transformation plan will occur in January 2023 and outline the progress made in Q4 of 2022.