HEALTH UNITS 'DID GREAT WORK' DURING PANDEMIC

ALSO, PARRY SOUND OFFICE MOVING AND POSSIBLE FUNDING CHANGE

North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit's board members met for the last time before the summer break on June 28.

Here is what you need to know.

• "Things are a bit more back to normal than they have been in prior years," said executive director of finance Isabel Churcher of the quarterly financial report, though she noted COVID-19 expenses are no longer fronted by the province so the board "won't be getting any payments until ... we submit our second quarter report," due at the end of July. At the end of March, COVID-related expense were $364,000.

• The health unit expects to take possession of under-renovation office space at 90 Bowes St. in Parry Sound (above Shoppers Drug Mart) on Sept. 21 with a "move-in date to occur shortly thereafter," said medical officer of health Dr. Carol Zimbalatti.

• Board chair and East Ferris Coun. Rick Champagne attended the Association of Local Public Health Agencies meeting in June, reporting that attendees knew that "during the pandemic, (health units) did great work. There's no question ... I think, at the end of the day, we ... recognize what we do here. I don't think the public really understands what we do and how we went through the pandemic. I think we gotta get it out there to show the people what we did during the pandemic."

• At the conference, Champagne said he asked a speaker if they should be worried about funding and was told, hopefully, that something was coming up in August at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference. Champagne told the board he was hopeful the funding model started in 2020 — with municipalities covering 30 per cent instead of 25 per cent of the public health budget — will change.

• The health unit is championing the Icelandic model as a community-led way to tackle smoking rates plus alcohol and cannabis use of those in grades 7 to 12, through recreation and connectivity with family. "I've seen similar things with seniors; for example, when you engage them with programming and get feedback from them on their health, it keeps them out of hospital, it keeps them out of long-term care, but to me, getting to youth early enough .... fits right into ... the mandate of the health unit ... You want to stop it from happening rather than reacting," said a board member.