Item - 2019.HL12.6

The Board of Health:

1.  Requested the Ontario Ministry of Health and the Special Advisor to the Ontario Minister of Health on the future of Public Health and Emergency Health Services to consult directly with the Toronto Board of Health and Toronto Public Health as part of the consultations on changes to public health in Ontario.

2.  Requested the Medical Officer of Health to report to the Board of Health at its meeting on January 13, 2020 with an update on the consultations by the Ontario Ministry of Health with respect to changes to public health in Ontario and with information and feedback for consideration with respect to the "Discussion Paper: Public Health Modernization".

On November 18th, the Ministry of Health launched consultations on changes to the Public Health system in Ontario. Through the release of a Discussion Paper entitled, "Discussion Paper: Public Health Modernization", the Provincial Government defined key challenges for public health from their perspective: insufficient capacity, misalignment of health, social and other services, duplication of effort, and inconsistent priority setting and included questions for discussion for each topic.

Feedback on this discussion paper is being sought on an individual basis by way of survey responses, with a submission deadline of February 10, 2020.

The Ministry of Health has also indicated its intention to meet with stakeholders as part of their consultations.

In order for the Board to be able to participate fully in this discussion, it would be helpful to receive an update on what we know with respect to the entire consultation process, as well as information for consideration with respect to the discussion paper.