Toronto Public Health

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Toronto Public Health
Toronto Public Health.svg
Agency overview
Formed1998 (1998)
TypePublic health agency
JurisdictionCity of Toronto
Headquarters277 Victoria Street, 5th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
Employees1,864 (2016)
Annual budgetC$255 million (gross); C$64.2 million (net)
Ministers responsible
Agency executive
Websitewww.toronto.ca/health

Toronto Public Health (TPH) is the public health unit for the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is responsible for delivering public health programs and services, enforcing public health regulations, and advising Toronto City Council on health issues. The current unit was formed in 1998, when the former Metropolitan Toronto and its constituent municipalities of Toronto, York, North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke, and East York amalgamated into the current city of Toronto.

Role[]

In Ontario, under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, a public health unit is an official health agency established by a municipality.[1] Health units administer health promotion and disease prevention programs to inform the public about healthy life-styles, communicable disease control (including education about STDs/AIDS), immunization, food premises inspection, healthy growth and development (including parenting education), health education for all age groups, and selected screening services.[1]

Health units are governed by a board of health, which is an autonomous corporation under the Act and is administered by the Medical Officer of Health, who reports to the board of health.[1]

Programs[]

Dinesafe[]

In 2001, under then medical officer of health Dr. Sheela Basrur, TPH introduced Dinesafe, the City of Toronto's food safety program which inspects restaurants for compliance with health regulations, and publicly displays results (pass, conditional pass or closed) both on-site and on the City's website.[2][3]

Infectious disease control[]

SARS[]

During the Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis in 2003, TPH under then medical officer of health Dr. Sheela Basrur lead the City of Toronto's response to the virus.[2] TPH created a management system, with different operational teams responsible for different parts of the response. TPH teams monitored those infected and under quarantine, were responsible for epidemiology, tracing the movements and contacts of those infected, and tracking the virus itself. Much of the public communications effort was also led by TPH, who organized community meetings, contacted school boards, and kept the population informed. As a result of SARS, TPH "totally reorganized itself", with a stronger liaison unit with acute-care facilities and changes being made to better address public health on a provincial and federal level.[4]

COVID-19[]

See also: COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto

TPH is responsible for coordinating the City of Toronto's response to the international outbreak of COVID-19. On January 7, 2020, TPH was informed of a "undiagnosed viral pneumonia" in Wuhan, China, and began to monitor and develop a response plan should it spread to Toronto.[5] TPH released a statement on January 21 that they were "actively monitoring" the virus.[6] On March 19, 2020, TPH ordered restaurants and bars to halt dine-in service amid evidence of community spread.[7]

Board of Health[]

The Board of Health is a committee of the City of Toronto, governed by the Health Protection and Promotion Act, which directs and oversees the work of Toronto Public Health. It is composed of six city council members, six members of the public, and one education representative. A chair and vice-chair are elected from amongst its members.[8]

Current members (as of 3 December 2019)[9][10]
Name Type Term start Notes
Ashna Bowry Member 31 January 2019 —
Joe Cressy Councillor 13 December 2018 Chair
Stephanie Donaldson Member 31 January 2019 TDSB Trustee
Angela Jonsson Member 31 January 2019 —
Cynthia Lai Councillor 13 December 2018 —
Mike Layton Councillor 13 December 2018 —
Ida Li Preti Member 31 January 2019 TCDSB Trustee
Jennifer McKelvie Councillor 31 January 2019 —
Kate Mulligan Member 31 January 2019 —
Gord Perks Councillor 13 December 2018 —
Peter Wong Member 31 January 2019 —
Soo Wong Member 31 January 2019 —
Kristyn Wong-Tam Councillor 13 December 2018 Vice Chair

Medical Officer of Health[]

The Medical Officer of Health is responsible for day-to-day operations of Toronto Public Health, and reports to Toronto City Council through the Board of Health.

Medical Officers of Health, Toronto (since 1998 amalgamation)[11]
Name Term start/end Notes
Dr. Sheela Basrur 1998–2004 former Medical Officer of Health, Borough of East York
Dr. Barbara Yaffe 2004 Acting
Dr. David McKeown 2004–2016 former Medical Officer of Health, Borough of East York, City of Toronto and Region of Peel
Dr. Barbara Yaffe 2016 Acting; now Director of Communicable Disease Control and Associate MOH
Dr. Eileen de Villa 2017–present former Medical Officer of Health for the Region of Peel

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Government of Ontario, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. "Public Health Units – Health Services in Your Community – MOHLTC". www.health.gov.on.ca. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Dr. Sheela Basrur, 51: Guided city through SARS". thestar.com. 3 June 2008. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  3. ^ "DineSafe among programs affected by Ford's public health cuts | Dished". dailyhive.com. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Lessons from SARS, Part 3: The public-health officer". TVO.org. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  5. ^ "Toronto Public Health develops plan for "undiagnosed viral pneumonia" detected in China | News". dailyhive.com. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Toronto Public Health actively monitoring contagious coronavirus | News". dailyhive.com. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  7. ^ Freeman, Chris Fox and Joshua (16 March 2020). "City orders restaurants, bars to halt dine-in service amid evidence of community spread". CP24. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  8. ^ "311 Knowledge Base". www.toronto.ca. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  9. ^ "Agenda". app.toronto.ca. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  10. ^ "Decision Body Profile". toronto.ca. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  11. ^ "An Infectious Idea: Toronto". City of Toronto. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2019.

External links[]

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