Acting Medical Officer of Health encouraging everyone to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines in Board of Health Update

“Acting Medical Officer of Health

Dr. Ian Gemmill was introduced as the Acting Medical Officer of Health (MOH) at Hastings Prince Edward Public Health (HPEPH) for May and June while MOH Dr. Ethan Toumishey is on paternity leave.

Dr. Gemmill is a familiar presence at HPEPH having previously served as Acting MOH from 2017 to 2018. Dr. Gemmill also served as Associate Medical Officer of Health at Ottawa Public Health for 15 years, MOH at Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health for 20 years, and most recently as Acting MOH for Renfrew County.

Dr. Gemmill updated the Board on the latest guidance from Health Canada and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) which recommends that high-risk individuals receive their next COVID-19 booster dose at least six months since their last dose or confirmed COVID-19 infection. Additional information is available at ontario.ca/page/covid-19-vaccines/

Dr. Gemmill also advised that anyone who has not had a booster in the last six months should get one. “Staying up to date with vaccinations continues to be the best defence against COVID-19 and I’m strongly encouraging everyone, especially those with an increased risk of severe infection, to get a booster at least six months since their last dose or confirmed COVID-19 infection,” said Dr. Gemmill.

Opioid Monitoring Dashboard

Epidemiologist Yvonne DeWit and Public Health Nurse Jeremy Owens provided a presentation on the new Opioid Monitoring Dashboard developed by HPEPH in collaboration with community partners.

The Opioid Monitoring Dashboard was created in order to identify situations involving opioid drugs that require a public health response. The interactive online dashboard consolidates and reports information about emergency medical service calls, police incidents, emergency department visits, deaths related to opioid poisonings, and opioid poisonings reported via HPEPH website.

The tool contains information from a number of data sources including Hastings Quinte Paramedic Services, Belleville Police Services, and four local Ontario Provincial Police detachments (Bancroft, Centre Hastings, Prince Edward County, and Quinte West).

The dashboard will be updated on the last Thursday of every month. A surveillance plan has been developed to support use of the dashboard both by HPEPH and community partners. The surveillance plan outlines when and how alerts and media releases will be issued based on key indicator thresholds, such as a spike in opioid-related deaths or emergency department visits.

Ontario Seniors Dental Program

Kelly Palmateer, Acting Program Manager for Oral Health, provided an update about the Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program (OSDCP). HPEPH had 699 eligible clients in active treatment in 2022. The OSDCP provides comprehensive dental care to qualifying seniors. To qualify for the program individuals must be Ontario residents 65 and older with a net income of $22,200 or less for a single person, or a combined annual net income of $37,100 or less for a couple, with no access to any other form of dental benefits.

As demand for the program exceeds available resources, there is currently a waiting list of approximately 195 eligible OSDCP clients, Palmateer said. She noted that this is despite having a dentist working five days a week to offer restorative treatment, external partners providing treatment and providing preventive services by HPEPH dental hygienists four days of the week.

In 2022, HPEPH provided 2,509 appointments for seniors at the HPEPH clinic and external dental partners under the program.

She also provided an update on the manufacturing of two mobile dental vans which will be used to provide treatment in rural communities in Hastings and Prince Edward Counties, as well as Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Counties. It is anticipated that the mobile vans will be ready in June, and an initial soft launch of the units will occur at the Belleville office where they will be used as additional clinic rooms.

Tick-borne infections

Now that the weather is warming up, residents are reminded to be on the lookout for ticks. Ticks can be found any time of year when the temperature is above freezing and blacklegged ticks can be found almost anywhere outdoors, but are most often found in habitats that maintain ground-level moisture and humidity such as in tall grasses, bushy, wooded and forested areas.

Preventing tick bites is the key to preventing Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases.

Take the following precautions when spending time outdoors:

• Perform a daily tick check and pay special attention to the scalp, ankles, armpits, groin, navel and behind ears and knees. Do the same for others in your care and pets
  • Apply a Health Canada approved insect repellent containing DEET or Icaridin to exposed skin and clothing and consider wearing permethrin-treated clothing
  • Wear light-coloured clothing to spot ticks more easily
  • Wear long-sleeved shirts, pants, socks and closed footwear (Tuck pants into socks)
  • Walk on cleared paths or trails and keep children and pets from wandering off the path
  • After outdoor activity put clothes in a dryer on high heat for at least 10 minutes to kill any ticks
  • Shower or bathe after coming inside to wash away loose ticks
  • Talk to your vet about protecting your pets.
  • Create a tick free zone around your house by maintaining your property

See the HPEPH Bitten by a Tick? fact sheet for more information.”