Minutes - September 17, 2020 - Board of Health Meeting

Members Present:

Ms. Maureen Cassidy (Chair)
Ms. Aina DeViet (Vice-Chair)
Mr. John Brennan
Ms. Kelly Elliott
Mr. Bob Parker
Mr. Ian Peer
Mr. Matt Reid
Ms. Tino Kasi (arrived via video conference 6:49pm)
Ms. Arielle Kayabaga

Others Present:

Dr. Christopher Mackie, Medical Officer of Health (Secretary Treasurer)
Ms. Sharon Keith, Executive Assistant, Environmental Health and Infection Diseases (recorder)
Dr. Michael Clarke, CEO (interim)
Dr. Alexander Summers, Associate Medical Officer of Health
Ms. Heather Lokko, Director, Healthy Start
Ms. Maureen Rowlands, Director, Healthy Living – via video
Mr. Stephen Turner, Director, Environmental Health and Infectious Disease
Ms. Mai Pham, Epidemiologist
Mr. Jeff Cameron, Manager, IT
Ms. Mary Lou Albanese, Manager, COVID Team
Ms. Elizabeth Milne, Executive Assistant to the Board of Health and Communications Coordinator
Mr. Dan Flaherty, Manager, Communications
Mr. Alex Tyml, On-line Communications Coordinator
Ms. Donna Kosmack, Manager, Dental Clinic

At 6:32 pm, Chair Cassidy called the meeting to order.

Disclosure of Conflict of Interest

Chair Cassidy inquired if there were any disclosures of conflicts of interest. None were declared.

Approval of Agenda

It was moved by Mr. Parker, seconded by Ms. DeViet, that the AGENDA for the September 17, 2020 Board of Health meeting be approved.

Minutes

It was moved by Mr. Reid, seconded by Mr. Parker, that the MINUTES of the July 16, 2020 Board of Health meeting be approved.
Carried

It was moved by Mr. Reid, seconded by Mr. Parker, that the MINUTES of the July 29, 2020 Special Board of Health meeting be approved.
Carried

It was moved by Mr. Reid, seconded by Mr. Parker, that the MINUTES of the September 10, 2020 Special Board of Health meeting be approved.
Carried

It was moved by Mr. Reid, seconded by Mr. Parker, that the MINUTES of the September 10, 2020 Finance & Facilities Committee be Received.
Carried

Reports and Agenda Items

Finance and Facilities Committee Update (Report No. 040-20)

It was moved by Ms. Elliott, seconded by Ms. DeViet that the Board of Health review and approve the audited Consolidated Financial Statements for Middlesex-London Health Unit, March 31, 2020, as appended to Report No. 020-20FFC.
Carried

It was moved by Ms. Elliott, seconded by Mr. Peer, that the Board of Health;

1) receive Report No. 021-20FFC re “Q2 Financial and Factual Certificate Update” for information;
2) Approve the allocation of up to $40,000 of variance funds to support the development of a strategy to address anti-black racism; and
3) Approve the allocation of variance funds, above those required to offset the agency gapping budget, to relocation related expenses to a maximum of $250,000 in 2020.

Carried

It was moved by Ms. Elliott, seconded by Mr. Reid, that the Board of Health approve the 2021 PBMA criteria and weighting that is proposed in Appendix A to Report No. 022-20FFC.
Carried

It was moved by Ms. Elliott, seconded by Mr. Peer, that the Board of Health receive Report No. 023-20FFC, re: “Emergency Contract Award” for information.
Carried

It was moved by Ms. Elliott, seconded by Mr. Peer, that the Board of Health receive Report No. 040-20 re: “Finance & Facilities Committee Meeting – September 10, 2020” for information.
Carried

Monitoring Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Related Public Health Measures (Report No. 041-20)

Discussion ensued about the following items:

• Initial increase in opioid-related Emergency Department (ED) visits at the beginning of the pandemic, but no increase in deaths.
• Fewer ED visits at the peak of the pandemic.
• Measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 may have also reduced the spread of influenza.

It was moved by Ms. Elliott, seconded by Mr. Reid, that Report No. 041-20 re: “Monitoring Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Related Public Health Measures” be received for information
Carried

COVID-19 Surveillance Testing on Farms (Report No. 042-20)

Dr. Mackie and the Board of Health thanked Dr. Alexander Summers for his leadership in this area.

It was moved by Mr. Parker seconded by Mr. Brennan, that Report No. 042-20 re: “COVID-19 Surveillance Testing on Farms” be received for information.
Carried

Update on Provincial COVID-19 Case and Contact Management (CCM) System (Report No. 043-20)

Discussion ensued about the following item:
Several issues continue to exist regarding the functionality of the provincial solution and the inherent organizational risks that would be assumed by MLHU once it is implemented locally.

It was moved by Mr. Peer, seconded by Ms. DeViet, that Report No. 043-20 re: “Update on Provincial COVID-19 Case and Contact Management (CCM) System” be received for information.
Carried

COVID-19 Update (verbal)

Dr. Summers provided an update on recent COVID-19 related activities at MLHU, which included the following updates

• Much work has focused on return to school and return to campus. The MLHU School Health Team, led by Maureen MacCormick, Anita Cramp, and Jacqueline Eckert - have provided tremendous support.
• As of this morning, there are 28 new cases of COVID-19 among Western University students in the last 6 days. Within this number are two separate outbreaks and several clusters related to households.
• Dr. Summers presented a visualization of the Western Outbreak Alpha, which showed where students had been and which can be used to predict where interactions will occur. The outbreaks are largely driven by interaction in houses, bars, restaurants, and social events. The highest risk times-of-day for transmission are evenings and weekends.
• The COVID Team has been working closely with Western University; steps taken include the closure of non-essential student events including varsity sports.
• With the coming of cooler weather there will be an increased temptation to congregate indoors. The Health Unit’s consistent message is that physical distancing is the most effective deterrent to transmission. Social circles must be kept small in order to interrupt the transmission of COVID-19.

Discussion ensued about the following items:

• Just living a “normal” life is hazardous in a pandemic. People need to be reminded to maintain physical distance.
• We have done education and given warnings. Now it looks like we need to move into enforcement.

It was moved by Mr. Reid, seconded by Ms. Elliott, that the Board of Health receive “COVID-19 Verbal Update” for information.
Carried

Medical Officer of Health Activity Report for September (Report No. 044-20)

Dr. Mackie made note of the following item in addition to his written report:
The Western Ontario Health Team has asked those involved to start contributing to startup funding. The first task will be to hire a lead for the work. The Health Unit’s contribution would be in the range of $8,000. Joe Antone, Manager, Health Equity and Indigenous Reconciliation, will serve on the hiring committee.

It was moved by Mr. Brennan, seconded by Mr. Parker, that the Board of Health receive Report No. 044-20 re: “Medical Officer of Health/CEO Activity Report for September” for information.
Carried

Correspondence

Chair Cassidy inquired if there were any questions, hearing none she asked for a mover and seconder.

It was moved by Mr. Reid, seconded by Ms. Elliott, that the Board of Health receive items a) through j) for information.

Carried

Other Business

Next meeting – October 15, 2020

Confidential

At 8:03 p.m., it was moved by Mr. Peer, seconded by Ms. Elliott, that the Board of Health move in-camera to consider matters regarding labour relations, identifiable individuals and advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose, and to consider matters regarding a trade secret or financial information, supplied in confidence to the local board, which if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to prejudice significantly the competitive position or interfere significantly with contractual or other negotiations of a person, group of persons or organization, and a trade secret or financial information that belongs to the municipality or local board and has monetary value.
Carried

At 10:06 p.m. it was moved by Ms. Elliott, seconded by Mr. Reid, that the Board of Health return to public session.
Carried

Maureen Cassidy
Chair

Christopher Mackie
Secretary-Treasurer