| Health Analytics & Business Affairs |
Administrative Support Services
 Goal: To provide effective and efficient support to all Durham Region Health Department (DRHD) divisions, programs and services that helps to enhance the delivery of the Ontario Public Health Standards and to meet all requirements of internal and external customers.
- Establish the Business Affairs Divisional Staff Engagement Committee.
- Develop strategic partnerships with DRHD divisions to support financial management, business operations, and implementation of corporate initiatives.
- Collaborate with all DRHD divisions to provide support for the implementation of myDurham 311.
Community & Resource Development (CARD)
 Goal: To provide support to all DRHD divisions, programs, and services, helping to enhance compliance with the Ontario Public Health Standards.
- Expand monthly Medical Officer of Health blog messages to include a video component (i.e., vlogs).
- Relaunch the monthly video news program to promote program initiatives/activities as a supplement to program campaign messaging/public awareness campaigns (e.g., news releases, advertising campaigns, etc.).
- Restore CARD team capacity.
Health Analytics & Research Team
Goal: To ensure public health practice responds effectively to current and evolving conditions and contributes to the public’s health and well-being with programs and services that are informed by the population’s health status, including social determinants of health and health inequities.
- Develop sustainable data provision for Rapid Risk Factor Surveillance System, Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey & Canadian Community Health Survey population surveys, balancing long-term analytic efficiency with the current need for fast updates on priority topics.
- Launch an internal infectious diseases surveillance dashboard with weekly refreshes and aberration detection based on historical data.
- Release a series of Health Neighbourhoods data updates with accompanying reports and with automation of the accompanying refresh process.
Health Policy & Equity Team
 Goal: Public health practice results in decreased health inequities so that everyone has equal opportunities for optimal health and can attain their full health potential without disadvantage due to social position or other socially determined circumstances.
- Conduct a staff learning needs assessment to inform a capacity building strategy to enhance a health equity approach to the planning, implementation and evaluation of public health services, programs, and policies.
- Collaborate with Durham Region Social Services Department on initiatives that build capacity and improve access for staff, community partners and clients to resources that address health equity and the social determinants of health.
- Identify current processes and staff learning needs to support collection and application of sociodemographic data in DRHD programs and policy work.
Privacy & Information Security
 Goal: To provide effective and efficient privacy and information security support to all DRHD divisions, programs and services that helps to enhance compliance with applicable privacy and public health related legislation, information security standards and information management best practices.
- Collaborate with all divisions to create an asset inventory for all information systems and devices.
- Determine the feasibility of implementing Ocean eReferrals for both inbound and outbound referrals.
- Review feedback from the 2023 privacy staff learning sessions and determine divisional level privacy awareness and training needs.
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| Health Information Systems and Quality Assurance & Improvement |
Health Information Systems - Health Protection
Goal: To maintain and develop the Hedgehog application including the Check&GO! disclosure portal and to support staff working toward achieving compliance with the current Ontario Public Health Standards.
- Collaborate with Infectious Diseases Prevention & Control program staff to develop and implement an equitable Public Health Inspector workload for staff supporting personal services settings and child care centres.
- Create a new procedure in Hedgehog 5 (HH5) database to document adverse water quality and beach water monitoring surveillance reports for official record repository and post implementation evaluation.
- Explore, implement, monitor and evaluate solutions to include beach water surveillance results on Check&GO! to increase public awareness.
Health Information Systems - Population Health
Goal: To maintain and support the PROFILE application to meet requirements of documentation as per the applicable professional colleges, organizational policies and to meet reporting requirements for programs and services outlined in the Ontario Public Health Standards with an emphasis on continuous quality improvement.
- Implement an enhanced onboarding and off boarding process for public health solutions.
- Develop the Financial Module in PROFILE to align with Payment Processes in Oral Health Division.
- Develop a plan to identify records that meet criteria for destruction in PROFILE.
Quality Assurance & Improvement
Goal: To ensure that programs and services meet requirements as articulated in policies, standards and legislation and to continuously improve the efficiency and effectiveness of services provided to Durham Region clients.
- Continue to evaluate and review records in the Health Protection Division (HPD) HH5 database to ensure accuracy for operational and reporting needs and ensure proper disclosure and transparency to the public.
- Evaluate and review the process of onboarding HPD program areas to official records to assure data accuracy, integrity and effectiveness for operational and reporting requirements.
- Continue to provide opportunities for learning and tools to maintain skills to assist Public Health Inspectors and Tobacco Enforcement Officers with their interactions within the community and with members of the public. This includes developing training/workshops on approaches to address discriminatory interactions, de-escalation and conflict resolution.
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| Health Protection |
Durham Health Connection Line
 Goal: To respond to inquiries and requests for service, including applications for new businesses and special event vendors from the community.
- Respond to health protection related inquiries from the public and communities within prescribed reporting and response timelines.
- Continue to collaborate with the myDurham 311 Change Agent Network and coordinate with divisions to guide the development of knowledge articles for the myDurham 311 call center.
Emergency Management
 Goal: To enable consistent and effective management of emergency situations.
- Participate in the planning, coordination and execution of a regional exercise in collaboration with Durham Emergency Management, Regional Departments and community partners.
- Provide emergency management learning for all Durham Region Health Department (DRHD) staff.
- Plan and launch three potassium iodide (KI) communications campaigns to raise awareness regarding the availability and ordering process for obtaining KI tablets.
Food Safety
 Goal: To prevent or reduce the burden of food-borne illness
- Conduct all required compliance and complaint-based inspections, and re-inspections, as mandated by the Ontario Public Health Standards and Food Safety Protocol.
- Review and revise mobile food premises processes to create a new pre-season process and educational resource for all mobile operators on re-opening after being closed for a season(s).
- Create a home canning/preserve vlog on items required before selling a product, including verified recipes, testing and facility requirements, etc.
Healthy Environments
 Goal: To prevent or reduce the burden of illness from health hazards in the physical environment.
- Complete the Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Assessment (CCHVA) report series consisting of seven reports: Background Primer, Extreme Heat, Ultraviolet Radiation, Vector-borne Disease, Food and Water, Air Quality and Extreme Weather.
- Develop and deliver a communications plan to promote key findings of the CCHVA primer and reports.
- Build internal/external climate and health knowledge exchange and community engagement networks.
Ontario Building Code - Part 8 (Sewage Systems)
 Goal: To prevent diseases in humans and contamination of the physical environment due to on-site private sewage systems.
- Utilize social media and produce vlogs on a septic system inspection and/or the components of a septic system before it is covered with soil.
- Collaborate with community partners to increase education on private sewage systems and to further build relationships with members of the public and other groups such as municipalities, private cottage associations and conservation authorities.
- Inspect sewage systems within 100 meters of a shoreline or a tributary of Lake Simcoe to ensure private sewage systems are not malfunctioning and contaminating Lake Simcoe and any corresponding tributaries as per Ontario’s Building Code and contractual agreements with Brock, Scugog and Uxbridge municipalities.
Safe Water
 Goal: To prevent or reduce the burden of water-borne illness related to drinking water and to prevent or reduce the burden of water-borne illness and injury related to recreational water use.
- Enhance the safe water website experience with additional social media content.
- Inspect all recreational water facilities and monitor all public beaches in Durham Region in accordance with the Operational Approaches for Recreational Water Guideline and the Recreational Water Protocol.
- Raise awareness of DRHD’s new online pool and spa operator training course.
- Develop and conduct at least one recreational water program consistency training session for general program staff.
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| Healthy Families |
Durham Health Connection Line
Goal: To ensure Durham Region residents have access to health information, counselling, and referral to appropriate resources on health issues as outlined in the Ontario Public Health Standards.
- Respond to inquiries from the community.
- Collaborate with Population Health Division programs to deliver health education, counselling, and referrals on topics identified in the Ontario Public Health Standards.
Pregnancy & Parenting, and Healthy Babies Healthy Children (HBHC)
 Goal: To achieve optimal preconception, pregnancy, newborn, child, youth, parental and family health.
- Ensure participants who complete a nine-week Perinatal Mood Disorder Public Health Nurse-led Cognitive Behavioural Therapy series demonstrate a reduction in their Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale score following the series.
- Develop a plan to support the healthy growth and development needs of children and families in identified neighbourhoods in Whitby, Oshawa, and Clarington with a focus on addressing identified areas of Early Development Instrument vulnerabilities.
- Provide home visiting services to families identified with risk for compromised parenting and child development.
- Implement a plan to promote the HBHC program and referral process to healthcare providers, community agencies and Durham Region residents.
Infant & Child Development
 Goal: To enhance the growth and development of children, including those with a developmental disability and/or risk of developmental delay by partnering with families to provide support, information, and early intervention services.
- Provide home visiting services for children between the ages of birth to school entry and who have a developmental disability or who are at risk of a developmental delay.
- Provide resources and service coordination for families and increase awareness of inclusionary practices with community partners.
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| Healthy Living |
Chronic Disease Prevention
 Goal: To reduce the burden of chronic diseases of public health importance* and improve well-being.
*Chronic diseases of public health importance include, but are not limited to, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory disease, cancer, diabetes, intermediate health states (such as metabolic syndrome and prediabetes), hypertension, dementia, mental illness, and addictions.
- Ensure Durham Region stakeholders have increased awareness of food insecurity to support advocacy efforts that address food insecurity.
- Raise awareness of nicotine cessation services and supports for post-secondary students (aged 18 to 24 years old).
Oral Health
 Goal: To enable all children in Durham Region to attain and sustain optimal oral health and development potential and to support adults who require assistance in accessing oral health information and services.
- Ensure provision of the Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program and Healthy Smiles Ontario program to offer preventive, dental, and denture care services to eligible recipients in the DRHD Dental Clinic, and those in the Region's long-term care homes.
- Deliver preventive, dental, and denture care services to eligible clients through publicly funded programs in collaboration with Brock Community Health Centre.
- Evaluate the new Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) and develop an implementation plan to enable the provision of preventive, dental and denture care services to recipients of the CDCP.
- Offer and provide dental screening to all children in participating Durham Region schools during the 2023-2024 school year and analyze pre/post COVID-19 school dental screening data.
- Conduct oral health promotion and education with a focus on children and seniors’ oral health care.
- Re-establish Oral Health Division services in priority childcare settings.
Prevention of Injury & Substance Misuse
 Goal: To reduce the burden of preventable injuries and substance use.
- Implement a plan to increase awareness of alcohol-related harms among youth ages 12 to 17 and young adults ages 18 to 25.
- Implement the local opioid response plan in coordination with Opioid Task Force members.
- Implement a multi-pronged strategy engaging young adults ages 18 to 25 to increase awareness of the health risks associated with cannabis use and harm reduction strategies.
- Complete a situational assessment on social prescribing to support the mental health of Durham Region residents.
School Health
 Goal: To achieve optimal health of children and youth in schools through partnership and collaboration with school boards and schools.
- Deliver public health interventions to school communities using a comprehensive health promotion approach.
- Implement an evaluation plan of the revised human development and sexual health resources with educators who utilized the resources to support their teaching.
Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017
 Goal: To ensure tobacco, e-cigarette vendors, and other organizations subject to the Smoke Free Ontario Act, 2017 (SFOA) comply with the Act and restrict youth access to tobacco products and e-cigarettes.
- Explore inputting SFOA legal action (e.g., tickets, summons and legal files) into Hedgehog 5 database for records management and for disclosure on the Check&Go portal.
- Research and implement additional legal tools with facility operators who are not compliant with the SFOA and Durham Region Smoking and Vaping By-law, in circumstances where progressive enforcement does not achieve compliance.
- Explore a collaboration with Health Analytics & Research Team to develop data related to youth vaping and non-compliance at tobacco and vapour retailers to support program decisions and initiatives.
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| Infectious Diseases |
Immunization
Goal: To reduce or eliminate the burden of vaccine preventable diseases through immunization.
- Support Immunization of School Pupils Act compliance in all students aged four to 17-years old.
- Provide provincially funded immunizations to all eligible grade seven and eight students through school-based clinics at elementary schools.
- Provide immunization clinics for Durham Region residents with limited access to publicly funded vaccines.
- Provide COVID-19 vaccine immunization/homebound clinics for Durham Region residents with limited access to COVID-19 vaccine through pharmacy and healthcare providers.
Infectious Diseases Prevention & Control - Health Protection
 Goal: To reduce the burden of communicable diseases and other infectious diseases of public health importance.
- Develop a new vector-borne diseases (VBD) social media and advertising campaign, update the VBD website and ensure new signs are posted in high-risk areas, such as greenspaces and entrances to hiking trails.
- Review and update the process for managing standing water complaints, in cooperation with the local area municipalities and their property standards divisions, in relation to West Nile virus.
- Review and update the legal process for following up on standing water complaints in relation to West Nile virus.
- Receive and respond to all reported cases of potential rabies exposures received from the public, community partners, and healthcare providers in accordance with the Health Protection and Promotion Act, the Management of Potential Rabies Exposures Guideline, and the Rabies Prevention and Control Protocol.
- Develop and post news releases and rabies messaging on social media regarding rabies awareness, prevention, pet vaccination requirements, world rabies day and rabies awareness month and develop a ‘Fax About’ related to rabies post-exposure prophylaxis and reporting requirements for healthcare providers.
- Communicate to local veterinarians and municipal animal services to encourage hosting of low-cost rabies vaccine clinics, and support community partners who host low-cost clinics by promoting the clinic(s) on durham.ca.
- Respond to all complaints regarding infection prevention and control practices (IPAC) and/or refer to appropriate regulatory bodies, including regulatory colleges.
- Inspect all personal services settings (PSS) and licensed childcare centres (CCC) for compliance with relevant regulations, protocols and guidelines.
- Launch a PSS newsletter for PSS operators.
- Explore the implementation of workshops for CCC operators in collaboration with Durham Region Social Services Department.
- Conduct investigations of diseases of public health significance including: sporadic disease investigations; outbreak investigations in acute care facilities, long-term care homes, retirement homes, congregate living settings and CCC; and suspect foodborne illnesses.
- Collaborate with Lakeridge Health to host the Durham IPAC Hub Education Day/Respiratory Event.
- Collaborate with Health Analytics & Research Team on the outbreak email notification/automation project.
Infectious Diseases Prevention & Control - Population Health
 Goal: To reduce the burden of communicable diseases and other infectious diseases of public health importance.
- Manage all sporadic communicable disease cases and contacts accordance with the Infectious Diseases Protocol.
- Manage all suspected and confirmed cases of tuberculosis according to federal guidelines and provincial protocols.
- Manage all sexually transmitted and blood-borne infection cases and contacts according to the Sexual Health and Sexually Transmitted/Blood-Borne Infections Prevention and Control Protocol.
- Offer sexual health clinic services at the two clinic locations in Oshawa and Pickering.
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| Paramedic Services |
 Goal: To deliver a quality Paramedic Services system that is responsive to client needs and reduce mortality and morbidity related to illness and injury through the provision of pre-hospital advanced life support procedures. Primary program delivery is through the Region of Durham Paramedic Services with assistance from the Central Ambulance Communications Centre and local fire department tiered response programs.
- Continue implementation of the Paramedic Services Master Plan with appropriate staffing enhancements.
- Transition education staff over to the newly completed Seaton response station facility by fall of 2024.
- Seek opportunities for enhanced hours of operation within the logistics program to better support 24/7 business operation.
- Complete the External Violence Against Paramedics training for all frontline staff.
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