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Welcome to the Health Unit's own blog - written by public health experts with a Thunder Bay District lens. We look forward to engaging with you on here! 

Thank you for your interest in becoming a supplier to the Thunder Bay District Health Unit. The TBDHU follows strict guidelines for procuring third-party goods and services to ensure an ethical, professional and accountable supply chain. We ask that you review the policy guidelines and terms…



Joanna Carastathis, Health Promotion Planner


Staff members at the TBDHU now have a fleet of 4 workplace bikes, providing employees the opportunity to add exercise to their workdays by cycling to and from meetings, or to use during breaks or lunch. The workplace bike fleet program is designed to…



Stephanie Maki & Jackie Rink, Family Home Visitors


Family home visitors (FHVs) from the Healthy Babies Healthy Children Program added food skills education into the services they offered to families in 2015 thanks to a one-time grant from the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. As…

The TBDHU teamed up with the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario to promote mental wellness within district schools. The Youth Mental Health and Addictions Champions project encourages youth champions to use creative approaches to raise awareness about mental health and support overall…



Are you an underdrinker? 

That’s the tongue-in-cheek question the TBDHU asked young adults in fall 2015 through a campaign to prevent binge drinking.

Elevated levels of drinking in Northwestern Ontario means that people in our district are at a greater risk of negative consequences. One in…



The Walkability Committee made great strides in 2015 by raising more awareness among city leaders about the importance and value of walkable communities.

During one event on March 3, 2015, urban design expert and walkability advocate Paul Young from Toronto visited Thunder Bay, joining committee…



Photo credit: Manitouwadge General Hospital


The TBDHU formed a unique collaboration in 2015 to help get public health promotion programming to the previously underserved Manitouwadge area.

“We were having difficulty recruiting and retaining a public health nurse in Manitouwadge,” says…

The TBDHU is following a revised province-wide risk assessment for food premises called the Operational Approaches for Food Safety Guideline, 2019. 

This guideline is expected to make better use of the time spent inspecting food premises.   

Food premises include places…



Robyn Land & Melissa Syrja, Public Health Inspectors


A streamlined Outbreak Response Protocol has improved the efficiency of public health’s response to confirmed or suspected food and waterborne illness outbreaks.  

Micro-organisms such as Norovirus or E. coli bacteria can get into…



With more community partners collaborating to organize World Hepatitis Day events than ever before, the HepNet coalition was able to expand the occasion to a whole week of activities in July 2015. The goal was to raise awareness about the disease in the District of Thunder Bay where hepatitis C…



Ashley Belanger, Public Health Nurse


Through the effective use of social media, a campaign by the sexual health program intended to boost awareness of HIV testing among men who have sex with men (MSM) has influenced some peoples’ decisions to get tested.

Ads for the Got 8 Minutes TBay?…



A number of community events went smoke-free


TBDHU supported the roll-out of changes to the Smoke Free Ontario Act (SFOA) among other activities undertaken in 2015 to help decrease smoking in the district.

As of July 1, 2015, the SFOA (a provincial law) was revised to now ban smoking on all…

Reporting Obligations

Laboratory confirmed cases of HIV must be reported to the Thunder Bay District Health Unit by fax, phone or mail.


Fax: (807) 625-4866
Phone: 625-5676 or toll-free at 1-888-294-6630, ext. 8318
Mail: 999 Balmoral Street, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 6E7


 

Epidemiology…

Reporting Obligations
Suspected cases must be reported immediately by phone to the Thunder Bay District Health Unit at 625-5930 or toll-free 1-888-294-6630, ext. 5930 (Monday-Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm). After hours and on weekends/holidays call Thunder Bay Answering Service at (807) 624-1280.…