January 16, 2019 - The chair, vice chair and executive committee members of the Board of Health were elected today during the Board of Health’s Annual Meeting held at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit. Mr. James McPherson was elected as chair. Mr. Don Smith was elected in the vice chair position.
Board of Health membership for 2019 is as follows:
January 8, 2018 - Officials at the Health Unit and Chartwell Glacier Ridge, located at 1261 Jasper Drive, have declared a facility-wide enteric outbreak at 1400hrs on January 8, 2019.
Admissions, transfers, discharges and social activities have been cancelled until further notice. Visitors are restricted to family members and caregivers only, so please call the facility for more information.
December 31, 2018
Hogarth Riverview Manor Officials at the Health Unit and Hogarth Riverview Manor, located at 300 Lillie Street North, have declared an enteric outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness on 5 South.
Admissions, transfers, discharges and social activities have been cancelled until further notice. Visitors are restricted to family members and caregivers only, so please call the facility for more information.
The development of the new Canada’s Food Guide should have happened a lot sooner. The last updated version was released in early 2007 by Health Canada. This was over 11 years ago.
According to a study released today by the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, 65% of homes in Oliver Paipoonge and 17% of homes in Marathon have high levels of radon. The study was conducted in Oliver Paipoonge and Marathon between the fall of 2017 and the spring of 2018, during the home heating season.
Health Canada has officially started the ban on artificial trans-fats from the food supply as of Monday September 17 2018. This ban was a long time in the making considering our extensive knowledge of how trans-fats are bad for our health. The food industry will have a grace-period of 2 years (until 2020) to fulfill the requirements of the new legislation. What does this mean for us consumers? Before we answer that, let’s do a quick review of trans-fats.
As coordinator of communications, I don't get to author many blogs. I'm usually coordinating others' blogs for publishing. It makes sense because, well, I coordinate the communications of others who actually know what they're talking about when it comes to public health.
That said, I wanted to share a brief story that shook me up and taught me a few things.
Remember when you were partying like it was 1999 (because it was) at your New Year’s Eve millennium/Y2K/Newmanium party? We were ringing in the future. The old-timey 1900s were coming to a close and it was time to usher in the 21st Century.
Welcome back, fellow public health enthusiasts! Last time you heard from me, I told you about Canada’s deadly addiction to smoking and the “Endgame” goal: A national smoking rate of under 5% by 2035. What I didn’t tell you is what we have to do to get there. The good news is that it’s definitely possible and that when we do, it will save tens of thousands of lives and billions of dollars a year. The bad news: At first, not everyone is going to like it.
Canada’s goal is to lower the smoking rate to under 5% by 2035. Ontario has pledged to reach 10% by 2023. What can we do for the smoking endgame to be anything more than a pipe dream?