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

There were 10 completed surveys received from BoH members related to Q2 effectiveness. 

Responses related to BoH operations continued to be positive overall. Most responses were ‘Strongly Agree’ or ‘Agree’. There were 2 instances of ‘Don’t Know/Unsure’ related to asking if material notices of wrongdoing or irregularities were responded to in a timely manner and one ‘Strongly Disagree’ related to the BoH decision making processes.  

In terms of overall perceived BoH effectiveness, responses were similar to the Q1 2025 survey and ranged from scores of 8 to 10 (compared to 7 to 10 in the previous survey). Where, the average score was 8.7/10, which is the same as the previous survey.  

Suggestions for improvement included:

• Creating community outreach opportunities for board members.
• Increasing the educational component of health unit public service announcements.
• Increasing our focus on youth health concerns as well as health concerns for seniors.