Toronto Public Health

Agency overview
Formed| 1998 (1998)
Type| Public health unit
Jurisdiction| Toronto, Ontario
Headquarters| 277 Victoria Street
Toronto, Ontario
Employees| 2,486 (2021)
Annual budget| CA$344,596,400[1] (2021)
Agency executive|

* Dr. Eileen de Villa, Medical Officer of Health

Parent organization| City of Toronto
Key document|

* Health Protection and Promotion Act

Website| www.toronto.ca/health

Toronto Public Health (TPH) is the public health unit in Toronto, Ontario. 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.

## Contents

* 1 Role
* 2 Programs
* 2.1 Dinesafe
* 2.2 Infectious disease control
* 2.2.1 SARS
* 2.2.2 COVID-19
* 3 Board of Health
* 4 Medical Officer of Health
* 5 See also
* 6 References
* 7 External links

## Role

In Ontario, under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, a public health unit (PHU) is an official health agency established by a municipality.[2] PHUs administer health promotion and disease prevention programs to inform the public about healthy life-styles, communicable disease control, immunization, food premises inspection, healthy growth and development, health education for all age groups, and selected screening services.[2]

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.[2]

## 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.[3][4]

### 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.[3] 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.[5]

#### COVID-19

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.[6] TPH released a statement on January 21 that it was "actively monitoring" the virus.[7] On March 19, 2020, TPH ordered restaurants and bars to halt dine-in service amid evidence of community spread.[8]

TPH collaborated with the University of Toronto to interpret self-reported symptom data provided by the COVID Near You platform, based out of Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital.[9] The platform was launched in Canada on April 3, 2020,[10] with results of the analysis shared with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).[11]

On September 11, 2020, the Public Health Agency of Canada announced $13.9 million in funding for TPH to establish a "voluntary self-isolation centre" for eligible residents facing "difficulty properly isolating themselves."[12] The Toronto Voluntary Isolation Centre officially opened the following day in a converted hotel.[13][14] TPH administered the facility, including identifying eligible cases.[15]

## 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.[16]

Current members (as of 3 December 2019)[17][18] 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.

Toronto Medical Officers of Health, before 1998 amalgamation[19]

Name  | Term start/end  | Notes
William Canniff  | 1883–1890  |
A.R. Pyne  | 1890–1891  | Acting
Norman Allen  | 1891–1893  |
Charles Sheard  | 1893–1910  |
Charles Hastings  | 1910–1929  |
G.P. Jackson  | 1929–1951  |
L.A. Pequegnat  | 1951–1958  |
A.R.J. Boyd  | 1958–1972  |
G.W.O. Moss  | 1972–1981  |
Alexander S. Macpherson  | 1981–1989  |
Perry Kendall  | 1989–1995  |
David McKeown  | 1995–1997  |
Toronto Medical Officers of Health (since 1998 amalgamation)[19]

Name  | Term start/end  | Notes
Sheela Basrur  | 1998–2004  | former MOH, Borough of East York
Barbara Yaffe  | 2004  | Acting
David McKeown  | 2004–2016  | former MOH, Borough of East York, City of Toronto and Region of Peel
Barbara Yaffe  | 2016  | Acting
Eileen de Villa  | 2017–present  | former MOH for the Region of Peel

## See also

* Health in Toronto
* Toronto Paramedic Services

## References

1. ↑ "Toronto Public Health 2021 Operating Budget Request". https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2020/hl/bgrd/backgroundfile-157982.pdf.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Government of Ontario, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. "Public Health Units – Health Services in Your Community – MOHLTC" (in en). http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/common/system/services/phu/default.aspx.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Dr. Sheela Basrur, 51: Guided city through SARS" (in en). 2008-06-03. https://www.thestar.com/news/obituaries/2008/06/03/dr_sheela_basrur_51_guided_city_through_sars.html.
4. ↑ "DineSafe among programs affected by Ford's public health cuts | Dished" (in en). https://dailyhive.com/toronto/dinesafe-restaurant-inspections-public-health-cuts-ford-may-2019.
5. ↑ "Lessons from SARS, Part 3: The public-health officer" (in en). https://www.tvo.org/article/lessons-from-sars-part-3-the-public-health-officer.
6. ↑ "Toronto Public Health develops plan for "undiagnosed viral pneumonia" detected in China | News" (in en). https://dailyhive.com/toronto/toronto-public-health-undiagnosed-viral-pneumonia-china.
7. ↑ "Toronto Public Health actively monitoring contagious coronavirus | News" (in en). https://dailyhive.com/toronto/toronto-public-health-monitoring-coronavirus.
8. ↑ Freeman, Chris Fox and Joshua (2020-03-16). "City orders restaurants, bars to halt dine-in service amid evidence of community spread" (in en). https://www.cp24.com/news/city-orders-restaurants-bars-to-halt-dine-in-service-amid-evidence-of-community-spread-1.4854427.
9. ↑ "Who We Are". https://outbreaksnearme.org/ca/en-CA/who-we-are.
10. ↑ Lapointe-Shaw, Lauren; Rader, Benjamin; Astley, Christina M.; Hawkins, Jared B.; Bhatia, Deepit; Schatten, William J.; Lee, Todd C.; Liu, Jessica J. et al. (2020-10-02). Di Gennaro, Francesco. ed. "Web and phone-based COVID-19 syndromic surveillance in Canada: A cross-sectional study" (in en). PLOS One 15 (10): e0239886. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0239886. ISSN 1932-6203. PMID 33006990.
11. ↑ Jones, Alexandra Mae (2020-04-12). "Has someone in your area been tested for COVID-19? A new website lets you know" (in en). https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/has-someone-in-your-area-been-tested-for-covid-19-a-new-website-lets-you-know-1.4892890.
12. ↑ Public Health Agency of Canada (2020-09-11). "Government of Canada Announces Funding for New Voluntary Self-Isolation Centre in Toronto". https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/news/2020/09/government-of-canada-announces-funding-for-new-voluntary-self-isolation-centre-in-toronto.html.
13. ↑ "Toronto's COVID-19 voluntary isolation centre officially opens" (in en-CA). 2020-09-12. https://www.toronto.ca/news/torontos-covid-19-voluntary-isolation-centre-officially-opens/.
14. ↑ Gray, Jeff (2020-09-11). "Federal government to fund Toronto COVID-19 isolation hotel" (in en-CA). The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toronto/article-federal-government-to-fund-toronto-covid-19-isolation-hotel/.
15. ↑ "COVID-19: What to Do if You Have COVID-19". 2021-09-22. https://www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/covid-19-what-you-should-do/covid-19-what-to-do-if-you-have-covid-19/?accordion=toronto-voluntary-isolation-centre.
16. ↑ "311 Knowledge Base" (in en-CA). https://www.toronto.ca/311/knowledgebase/kb/docs/articles/city-clerks-office/secretariat/toronto-board-of-health.html.
17. ↑ "Agenda". http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewPublishedReport.do?function=getAgendaReport&meetingId=15404.
18. ↑ "Decision Body Profile" (in en). https://secure.toronto.ca/pa/decisionBody/44.do.
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "An Infectious Idea: Toronto" (in en-CA). 2017-11-23. https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/accountability-operations-customer-service/access-city-information-or-records/city-of-toronto-archives/whats-online/web-exhibits/an-infectious-idea-125-years-of-public-health-in-toronto/an-infectious-idea-toronto/.

## External links

* An Infectious Idea: 125 Years of Public Health in Toronto (City of Toronto Archives)

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