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2014 Snapshot of Public Health: Sudbury East

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Introduction

The Sudbury East area is comprised of four very vibrant communities – each led by engaged municipal leaders working to ensure area residents and visitors experience the best that the region has to offer. In May 2015, a number of these Sudbury East municipal leaders met with the Sudbury & District Health Unit (SDHU) to explore public health issues and opportunities for the region.

This snapshot of public health was developed in follow up to the May meeting. It provides a brief overview of the public health system and the SDHU, and highlights public health activities in Sudbury East during the 2014 calendar year.

In the sections that follow, readers will find a snapshot of public health activities – highlighting the public health work of the SDHU that is done in collaboration with the public, community agencies, and municipalities. At the May meeting, municipal leaders told the SDHU that such an overview would be helpful in sharing the local public health story and in informing people from the area about how their public health dollars are being spent to promote and protect the health of everyone.

The Sudbury & District Health Unit is proud to work in partnership with the following Sudbury East communities:

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Public Health in Ontario

Public Health works “upstream” to promote and protect health and prevent people from becoming sick. If we can imagine the health system as a continuum, the treatment services of hospitals would be at one end and public health would be at the other, working to keep people from needing hospitals and other health care services in the first place.

Like with fire, police, and education services, public health is a “public good”: publicly funded and always there for us. Public health works behind the scenes to promote our health (e.g. helping municipal councils make bylaws for healthier food options in recreational centres) and front and centre to protect our health (e.g. issuing boil water advisories when drinking water is unsafe).

In Ontario, there is a provincial network of 36 non-profit public health units, all responsible for delivering standard public health programs and services, and for upholding the public health law. About every 25¢ of local municipal funding for public health is matched by 75¢ from provincial funding. The law specifies that municipal funding to public health is on a per capita basis.

The 36 health units, together with provincial ministries and agencies, primary health care providers and laboratories, comprise the formal public health system of the province.

Your Local Public Health Unit—Our Structure

The SDHU is governed by an autonomous board of health. Sudbury & District Board of Health members are determined by the legislation and the membership includes municipally elected representatives and citizen representatives from across the SDHU area. Sudbury East is represented by one individual who has historically been a local mayor or councillor.

The Sudbury & District Health Unit works hard to meet the needs of the diverse population we serve and to meet our legislative requirements. To do this, the SDHU is organized into five divisions each reporting to the Medical Officer of Health.

This image depicts a high level organizational chart for the Sudbury & District Health Unit.

 

Did you know?
The SDHU employs a number of public health professionals to carry out its mission and public health mandated programs. These include but are not limited to a public health physician (Medical Officer of Health), public health nurses, public health inspectors, dental educators and hygienists, dietitians, and epidemiologists. We also employ a number of technical and support staff who assist in the operational functions of the organization and the work we do in the various communities throughout Sudbury East.

Public Health Activities in Sudbury East

The SDHU actively supports health in Sudbury East by providing services to protect and to promote health.  The following is a snapshot of these Sudbury East public health activities that occurred in 2014. Together, they paint a picture of the variety and volume of local public health work.

Did you know?
The work of public health involves a huge amount of collaboration and partnerships with many sectors and agencies within the community. These include but are not limited to individuals, families, community groups and seniors clubs, faith groups, organizations, health professionals, health centres, child care groups, businesses, social services, local municipal staff and council, school boards, and their staff and administration, the police and fire and provincial ministries.

Health Protection

The SDHU delivers a number of services designed to protect the health of its communities. These services include for example, immunizations, health hazard investigations, sexual health services, food safety, and safe water initiatives. The snapshots in the section below highlight the health protection services provided by the SDHU to Sudbury East communities in 2014.

Control of Infectious Diseases and Infection Control

Sexual Health Program

Healthy Babies, Health Children Program

Dental Services

Food Safety

Health Hazards

Vector Borne Diseases, Rabies, and Lyme Disease

Part 8 Land Control (under Ontario Building Code)

Drinking Water

Small Drinking Water Systems

Recreational Water and Safe Water

Smoke-Free Ontario Act Enforcement

Extreme Weather Alerts

Did you know?
In order to meet the unique need of the communities within Sudbury East, the SDHU has aligned its highly skilled and trained staff to provide quality public health services. The SDHU has an office in St. Charles from which two full-time, bilingual public health nurses provide area health promotion and family health programming. Other services are provided to Sudbury East where and when needed by public health inspectors and pubic health nurses who travel from the SDHU main office in the City of Greater Sudbury.

Health Promotion

Public health also plays a key role in the promotion of health and prevention of chronic diseases and injuries. We do this through the delivery of a number of health promotion programs and services including for example, healthy eating and healthy weights, falls prevention, substance misuse and tobacco use prevention, and child and reproductive health. This section includes Sudbury East statistical and narrative information about a broad range of health promotion programs provided in 2014 by the SDHU. Many of these programs are delivered in collaboration with important partners such as other service agencies, community groups, schools, and municipalities.

Tobacco Use Prevention

In May 2014, the Manitoulin-Sudbury District Services Board (DSB) passed a Smoke-Free Housing policy, which came into effect in January 2015. The Sudbury & District Health Unit provided support to the implementation of the policy by delivering education and information sessions to all the DSB housing units. A total of three presentations were provided to 32 housing unit residents. Smoking cessation resources and local support for quitting smoking were particularly highlighted by public health staff. Additional tobacco use prevention and cessation efforts for Sudbury East area residents include the distribution of information to workers through a newsletter, and the promotion and implementation of campaigns targeted to students and young adults (e.g. wouldurather . . ., Leave the Pack Behind), and to adults (e.g. Driven to Quit).

School Health

Over the past three years, the SDHU’s Sudbury East district office has invested in the development of a strong working relationship with École secondaire de la Rivière-des-Français. Results from an initial assessment completed by students at the school were used to plan and implement various programs to work to enhance the school’s resiliency levels. To increase community cohesiveness and the relationship between the students and their community, local seniors have had numerous opportunities to work alongside the students in various projects, such as the creation of historical videos about our ancestors in the French River area. The approach has also been introduced to local partners such as the Centre de santé communautaire de Sudbury Est (Sudbury East Community Health Centre), the French River Nurse Practitioner Led Clinic, the OPP, and the Municipal Economic Development staff.

Triple P Parenting Program

The SDHU actively participates in the work of the local Triple P program, an evidence-based parenting program offering group and individual support and advice for parents. Health Unit staff have fostered links with the child and family social worker and Community Care Access Centre mental health and addictions nurses. Programming is coordinated and delivered based on service provider requests and parent needs. Additionally, members of the Sudbury East Triple P group attempt to address barriers for parents wanting to access parenting programs.

Prevention of Substance Misuse

In efforts to reduce injury and illness related to alcohol use, a “Safer Bars” training session was offered to 14 participants from across the region in Markstay-Warren. Participants included a municipal Chief Administrative Officer, a recreation staff, an alcohol establishment owner, employees of an alcohol establishment, community event coordinators, municipal volunteers, and proprietors. In addition, Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines (LRADG) were promoted through a display and the dissemination of brochures.

Healthy Eating

In the fall 2014, SDHU staff held two consultations with community members and partners in municipalities of Markstay-Warren and St. Charles, and French River regarding community food programming, such as emergency food programs (i.e. food banks) and community-based programs (i.e. community kitchens, and community gardens). As a result of these consultations, programs and linkages have been enhanced in various communities throughout Sudbury East.

Building on the community’s interest and readiness to minimize the barriers to obtaining fresh produce, the SDHU has worked collaboratively with volunteers from Markstay-Warren and the health promoter from the French River Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic in Alban to implement the Good Food Box (GFB) Program in Sudbury East, with host sites in Markstay, Warren, Noëlville, and Alban. SDHU staff promoted the GFB program through local media outlets in Sudbury East. Additionally, SDHU staff actively supported efforts to secure funding for the now-established, French River Community Garden, and remain dedicated partners on the sub-committee Villages amis des aînés, amis de tous – French River Community Garden.

In the No Time to Wait: Healthy Kids in the Sudbury and Manitoulin Districts Report Card, SDHU committed to working more closely with municipal leaders to improve access to nutritious food and beverage choices in municipally-funded venues. Recognizing the influence of the food environment on healthy eating, the municipalities of Markstay-Warren and

French River demonstrated their leadership by supporting an SDHU-led food options survey of patrons and vendors in local recreation facilities.

Healthy Communities

With approval from local municipal staff, and funding through the Healthy Communities Fund, the SDHU helped coordinate and conduct Rural Active Living Assessments (RALA) in the Municipalities of Markstay-Warren and Killarney. RALAs assist rural communities (population of 10,000 or less) by assessing the physical environment and amenities, town characteristics, and community programs and policies. The tool enables communities to identify areas of improvement to better support active living among residents. Staff met with representatives from the Municipality of Killarney as well as with community leaders from Markstay-Warren to review their area specific RALA results and recommendations, and to explore several options for moving forward. Municipalities have used the RALA findings to advocate for and implement practical improvements to enhance local recreation infrastructure and programming, and SDHU staff have continued to assist with these efforts.

SDHU staff provided seven letters of support for various community-led recreation grant applications, including the French River Active Parks Association’s effort to build a community splash pad, and the Markstay Revitalization Committee’s efforts to construct a permanent outdoor skating rink.

In order to support local recreation efforts, the Health Unit, through the Healthy Community Fund, financially supported the attendance of municipal recreation leaders from Killarney, Markstay-Warren and St. Charles at the Northeastern Ontario Recreation Association (NeORA) Educational Forum and Trade Show in Sturgeon Falls.

Did you know?
Environmental Health staff are available to participate in tabletop emergency preparedness exercises upon request and often comment on plans or proposals that may have a public health impact.

Summary

The Sudbury & District Health Unit is part of a provincial system of public health that works “upstream” to promote health and prevent disease. Locally, the SDHU provides a broad range of programs and services in collaboration with local community partners and community members throughout the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts and the City of Greater Sudbury.

This snapshot of public health was developed at the request of Sudbury East municipal leaders in order to provide a picture of SDHU activities in Sudbury East during the 2014 calendar year.  The variety and volume of programming to meet local needs is impressive.

The Sudbury & District Health Unit is grateful to the leadership of the following Sudbury East communities for their keen interest in public health in their communities:

Sudbury & District Health Unit staff is passionate about their work and keen to work with partners to support health and ensure opportunities for health for all throughout Sudbury East and beyond!

Did you know?
Public Health staff can be reached at any time from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday through the main office for routine business, and are available 24/7 for after-hours emergencies at 705.688.4366.

This item was last modified on December 23, 2019