Minutes - April 7, 2022 - Finance and Facilities Committee Meeting 

Members Present:

Mr. Mike Steele (Chair)
Mr. Matt Reid
Ms. Maureen Cassidy
Mr. Selomon Menghsha

Regrets

Ms. Kelly Elliott

Others Present:

Ms. Stephanie Egelton, Senior Executive Assistant to the Medical Officer of Health (Recorder)
Dr. Alexander Summers, Medical Officer of Health
Ms. Emily Williams, Chief Executive Officer
Mr. David Jansseune, Assistant Director, Finance
Mr. Pat Harford, Manager, Information Technology
Ms. Carolynne Gabriel, Communications Coordinator and Executive Assistant to the Board of Health
Mr. Brian Glasspoole, Consultant, Finance
Ms. Mary Lou Albanese, Director, Environmental Health and Infectious Diseases
Ms. Mariam Hamou, Board Member

At 9:03 a.m., Chair Mike Steele called the meeting to order.

Disclosures of Conflict of Interest

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

Approval of Agenda

It was moved by Ms. Maureen Cassidy, seconded by Mr. Matt Reid, that the AGENDA for the April 7, 2022 Finance & Facilities Committee meeting be approved.
Carried

Approval of Minutes 

It was moved by Ms. Cassidy, seconded by Mr. Selomon Menghsha, that the MINUTES of the March 3, 2022 Finance & Facilities Committee meeting be approved.
Carried

New Business

Cyber Security Training (Report No. 06-22FFC)

Ms. Emily Williams, Chief Executive Officer introduced Mr. Pat Harford, Manager, Information Technology to present the Cyber Security Training report.

Ms. Williams noted that the Health Unit has successfully secured cyber security insurance, as a result of the training program that has been implemented.

Highlights of this report include:

• Training sessions involve short videos on different cyber security topics, with a quiz at the end to test knowledge.
• The first sessions were to educate all staff and test knowledge on “phishing” and “CEO scams.”
• The current completion rate is 32% on the first training and 22% on the second.
• There were two rounds of testing for staff, pre and post training in early 2022.
• The first testing resulted with 24% (258) of staff clicking on the link and 17% (189) providing their credentials to a fake site, created by the IT team.
• Repeat testing showed improved results with 12% (131) following the link and 2% (25) providing credentials.

Ms. Williams noted that Senior Leadership has made this training mandatory for all staff.

It was also suggested that staff receive recognition for completing cyber security training and passing the required quizzes, along with adding cyber security training to the Board of Health member orientation session on April 28.

It was moved by Ms. Cassidy, seconded by Mr. Reid, that the Finance & Facilities Committee make a recommendation to the Board of Health to receive Report No. 06-22FFC, re: Cyber Security Training for information.
Carried

Financial Borrowing Update (Report No. 07-22FFC)

Ms. Williams introduced Mr. David Jansseune, Assistant Director, Finance to present the Financial Borrowing Update report.

Key highlights of this report included:

• There is a $10.5 million positive bank balance, as of December 2021.
• The COVID-19 extraordinary funding is $24,884,000 during 2021 with an additional $2,226,900 flowing in 2022 to fully offset the remaining 2021 expenses incurred by the health unit.
• Currently, we have not drawn funds from our line of credit.
• The bank loan that the Health Unit has is for $4.2 million, with an outstanding balance of approximately $4,016,119.
• Loan payments are made on a monthly basis, paying down interest and principal
• Loan rates are negotiated for 5-year, renewable terms. The Health Unit has three more years left in the term. Further, if the Board of Health wishes to increase loan payments, this can be disclosed during the budget process and request that payments be increased on the variable portion of the loan.
• Inflation has been addressed in budgeting, with items such as cyber security insurance and liability insurance being budgeted with inflationary increases.

Ms. Williams noted that the goal for 2023 is to work towards paying down further debt, which will be assisted by improved financial reporting and understanding the variance in a timely fashion. Further, it is anticipated that due to significant gapping, the Health Unit will have a surplus.

It was moved by Mr. Reid, seconded by Ms. Cassidy, that the Finance & Facilities Committee make a recommendation to the Board of Health to receive Report No. 07-22FFC, re: Financial Borrowing Update for information.
Carried

2021 Vendor and Visa Payments (Report No. 08-22FFC)

Mr. Jansseune noted that the report on 2021 Vendor and Visa payments included vendors with payments of over $100,000 and a summary of purchases paid with Health Unit corporate credit cards.

Staff will follow up with the Finance and Facilities Committee members on how many Health Unit credit cards are active and being used by staff.

It was moved by Mr. Reid, seconded by Mr. Menghsha, that the Finance & Facilities Committee make a recommendation to the Board of Health to receive Report No. 08-22FFC, re: 2021 Vendor and VISA Payments for information.
Carried

2021 Board of Health Remuneration (Report No. 09-22FFC)

Mr. Jansseune provided a report on Board of Health Remuneration. It was noted that 2021 remuneration for Board members was $38,126, with the budget being $39,000.

It was moved by Mr. Menghsha, seconded by Ms. Cassidy, that the Finance & Facilities Committee make a recommendation to the Board of Health to receive Report No. 09-22FFC, re: 2021 Board of Health Remuneration for information.
Carried

Q4 Financial Update and Factual Certificate (Report No. 10-22FFC)

Mr. Jansseune provided a financial update on Q4 and the most current factual certificate.

Key highlights of this report included:

• The Ministry of Health has confirmed funding to cover all MLHU COVID-19 extraordinary expenses in 2021.
• 2021 was a balanced budget for the Health Unit.
• County of Middlesex and City of London funding contributions were held at 2019 levels, which resulted in a savings/refund to both parties (County of Middlesex received back $122,000 and the City of London received back $640,000).
• Mandatory programs supported COVID-19 response with $5,228,094.

Dr. Alexander Summers, Medical Officer of Health noted that the organization has been reviewing risks and the current structures of programs and leadership. At this time, the Infectious Disease Control (IDC) and Vaccine Preventable Disease (VPD) programs (which are supporting the COVID-19 response) leadership structures have been stabilized. The current concern is stabilizing the staffing within these programs and ensuring there are enough resources to respond to an expected rapid rise in cases throughout April and beyond. In addition, the traditional community case management aspect of COVID-19 programming is no longer required which relieves some demands upon the COVID-19 response. There will be a surge response shift if there is an arrival of a new variant and redistribution of vaccine.

Ms. Williams added that the Health Unit has budgeted for full mandatory/regular programming and full COVID-19 programming. It was noted that the Human Resources Team is hiring specific COVID-19 staff to have a distinct team to respond to the pandemic. The COVID-19 program is budgeted at 100%, in accordance with the Board-approved PBMA proposal. The COVID-19 Vaccine program is budgeted at 75% of actual spend from last year (for COVID-19 vaccine).

Dr. Summers noted that while COVID-19 is still occurring, ensuring that staff and leaders have opportunities for engagement and debriefing the past two years is important. Senior Leadership is holding sessions for leaders on the Joy in Work framework, which will assist in creating tangible strategies to implement over one to three months for the organization. At this time, it is noted that leadership overtime hours have decreased since last year.

It was moved by Mr. Reid, seconded by Ms. Cassidy, that the Finance & Facilities Committee make a recommendation to the Board of Health to receive Report No. 10-22FFC, re: Q4 Financial Update and Factual Certificate for information.
Carried

Other Business

The next meeting of the Finance and Facilities Committee will be held on Thursday, May 5, 2022 at 9 a.m.

Adjournment 

At 9:46 a.m., it was moved by Mr. Menghsha, seconded by Ms. Cassidy, that the meeting be adjourned.

Carried

Michael Steele
Chair

Emily Williams
Secretary