Following a unanimous vote by its members at a meeting held on Monday, March 7th, the Middlesex-London Board of Health announced today that it has recommended Dr. Alex Summers become the new Medical Officer of Health for the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU).
Dr. Summers was hired as the Health Unit’s Associate Medical Officer of Health in July of 2018 and has been Acting Medical Officer of Health for the past four months. Among his duties in this capacity, he has served as Incident Commander for the Health Unit’s COVID-19 Pandemic Response and has played a lead role in many other public health-related matters.
Dr. Summers is a graduate of the Queen’s University School of Medicine, completed his residency in public health and preventive medicine at the University of Toronto and holds a Master of Public Health from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is also an Adjunct Faculty member at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University, in the Master of Public Health Program. In 2021, Dr. Summers received the Chair-Chief’s Recognition Award to a Family Physician, presented by the London Citywide Department of Family Medicine.
“As the Board of Health, we have full confidence that with Dr. Summers as our new Medical Officer of Health and Emily Williams as our CEO, our team is well-positioned to meet the public health needs of London and Middlesex County, and any challenges that may lie on the road ahead,” says Mr. Matt Reid, Chair of the Middlesex-London Board of Health. “We know that Dr. Summers has the vision, expertise and commitment to our community and the Health Unit. We are confident that he and his team will guide the MLHU through the pandemic and beyond it. We look forward with anticipation to seeing public health continue to thrive in our community under his leadership.”
The final step in the process of naming Dr. Summers as the region’s new Medical Officer of Health rests with Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health and the Province’s Minister of Health, who must approve the Middlesex-London Board of Health’s recommendation.
With Dr. Summers’ hiring, the Board of Health will initiate the search for a new Associate Medical Officer of Health immediately.
Media Contact:
Dan Flaherty, Communications Manager, Middlesex-London Health Unit,
519-663-5317, extension 2469 of 519-617-0570 (cell)
Spokesperson:
Mr. Matt Reid, Chair, Middlesex-London Board of Health