After 25 years of dedicated public service, Dr. Heimann retired as Medical Officer of Health in December 2014. This made 2015 my first year as the Health Unit’s Medical Officer of Health. I’m pleased to share some of the positive developments we’ve achieved.

During the year, many changes were made within our organization in order to enhance our services. The Vaccine Preventable Disease and Comprehensive School Health departments merged together to form the Healthy Schools department. This change allowed us to better serve our school population and deliver more cohesive programming from both the Health Protection and Promotion Divisions. The Healthy Families and the Healthy Babies, Healthy Children departments also merged in order to improve the services we provide to our community partners and clients.

In 2015, we welcomed many new faces to our management team and the Board of Health, including Dr. Wajid Ahmed, who succeeded me as the Associate Medical Officer of Health. Paul Borrelli, Dr. Carlin Miller, Joe Bachetti, Gord Queen and John Scott joined the Board of Health. Additionally, Mark Carrick and Bill Marra re-joined the Board of Health.

Finally, the Board of Health received greater-than-expected funding for many of its programs in 2015. These funds allowed the Health Unit to hire some of the much-needed employees to improve the health and wellbeing of residents in Windsor and Essex County.

Throughout this annual report you’ll read about how different programs are making an impact in our communities. I hope you find it informative.

In 2015, I was privileged to succeed Dr. Kirk as Associate Medical Officer of Health. I appreciate his support and the support I’ve received from Health Unit staff and community partners during this transition.

As the Associate Medical Officer of Health focused on health protection, my priority is preventing the transmission of communicable diseases, managing outbreaks and other incidents which threaten the health of the public. In addition, I also focus on ensuring the safety and quality of food, water, air and the general environment.

New areas of public health concerns continue to emerge every day (e.g., Zika virus disease, climate change, blue green algae, etc.) and our health unit is trying to bring innovation in our work to maximize our available resources. Our employees have shown outstanding dedication to public health in Windsor and Essex County and I’m proud of the many accomplishments we achieved this year.

As our community faces emerging challenges and threats to good health and wellness, it’s important that we continue to work together to promote healthy choices for our residents. Our programs and services will continue to evolve as we work together to identify and address various public health needs. This important collaboration will continue to support our goal toward creating a strong and healthy community.

Each year, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) reports to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the Ministry of Children and Youth Services on several key performance indicators. These indicators ensure accountability and transparency to the public. Achievements of the indicator targets are a central part of WECHU’s core business. The following table illustrates the 2015 year-end status for indicators.

The Know Your Level radon awareness campaign was launched in November of 2015. 1,000 free radon test kits were handed out to residents of Windsor and Essex County.

The purpose of the campaign was to increase radon awareness for the residents of Windsor and Essex County, inform them of radon mitigation strategies for their homes, and to assess radon levels in the Windsor and Essex County area.

A final report will be available by fall 2016.

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In 2015, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit began a preliminary investigation in the Remington Park area of Windsor after concerns of a reported cancer cluster were raised.

The investigation began with data collection, focusing on Remington Park residents who were diagnosed with primary lung cancer between the years of 2000 and 2009.

As of December 31, 2015, WECHU concluded the data collection phase of the investigation surrounding the Remington Park Cancer Cluster. The Health Unit has conducted interviews with 50% of the target population (or their next of kin).

The Health Unit Sexual Health Clinic staff partnered with the University of Windsor and St. Clair College to offer fun, mass STI screening events on each campus in 2015. The goal of the events was to raise awareness and reduce stigma of STI screening. Students were engaged to plan and lead the promotion of the events in a participatory health promotion model. Each student received a free T-shirt for providing a small urine sample for STI testing of chlamydia and gonorrhea.

University of Windsor

“T’s 4 Pee” on September 21st

700 people tested

St. Clair College

“Safe is Sexy” on October 15th

539 people tested

Of 1,239 total individuals tested, 20 positive cases were found.
(1.6% positive rate).

In 2015, the province introduced new legislation which banned smoking within 20 meters of playgrounds and sport fields, as well as on bar and restaurant patios.

Provincial actions like these are often the result of progressive changes at the municipal level and in 2015 Windsor and Essex County set a high bar in this regard. The Town of Lakeshore and Municipality of Leamington updated their municipal bylaws and the Towns of Kingsville and LaSalle passed smoke-free outdoor space bylaws, which are among the most comprehensive smoke-free by-laws in the province.

By including a combination of a wide range of products (e.g., e-cigarettes and hookahs), as well as spaces (e.g., parks, beaches, boat ramps, and bus shelters), these by-laws have provided a high level of protection from exposure to second-hand smoke.