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Toronto Public Health
Agency overview
Formed1998 (1998)
TypePublic health unit
JurisdictionToronto, Ontario
Headquarters277 Victoria Street
Toronto, Ontario
Employees2,486 (2021)
Annual budgetCA$344,596,400[1] (2021)
Agency executive
Parent organizationCity of Toronto
Key document
Websitewww.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.

Role

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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

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Dinesafe

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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

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SARS

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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

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See also: COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto

TPH was 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

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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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ "Toronto Public Health 2021 Operating Budget Request" (PDF).
  2. ^ a b c Government of Ontario, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. "Public Health Units – Health Services in Your Community – MOHLTC". www.health.gov.on.ca. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Dr. Sheela Basrur, 51: Guided city through SARS". thestar.com. 3 June 2008. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  4. ^ "DineSafe among programs affected by Ford's public health cuts | Dished". dailyhive.com. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  5. ^ "Lessons from SARS, Part 3: The public-health officer". TVO.org. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Toronto Public Health develops plan for "undiagnosed viral pneumonia" detected in China | News". dailyhive.com. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  7. ^ "Toronto Public Health actively monitoring contagious coronavirus | News". dailyhive.com. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  8. ^ Freeman, Chris Fox and Joshua (16 March 2020). "City orders restaurants, bars to halt dine-in service amid evidence of community spread". CP24. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  9. ^ "Who We Are". Outbreaks Near Me. Archived from the original on 6 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  10. ^ Lapointe-Shaw, Lauren; Rader, Benjamin; Astley, Christina M.; Hawkins, Jared B.; Bhatia, Deepit; Schatten, William J.; Lee, Todd C.; Liu, Jessica J.; Ivers, Noah M.; Stall, Nathan M.; Gournis, Effie; Tuite, Ashleigh R.; Fisman, David N.; Bogoch, Isaac I.; Brownstein, John S. (2 October 2020). Di Gennaro, Francesco (ed.). "Web and phone-based COVID-19 syndromic surveillance in Canada: A cross-sectional study". PLOS One. 15 (10): e0239886. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0239886. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 7531838. PMID 33006990.
  11. ^ Jones, Alexandra Mae (12 April 2020). "Has someone in your area been tested for COVID-19? A new website lets you know". CTV News. Archived from the original on 6 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  12. ^ Public Health Agency of Canada (11 September 2020). "Government of Canada Announces Funding for New Voluntary Self-Isolation Centre in Toronto". Government of Canada. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  13. ^ "Toronto's COVID-19 voluntary isolation centre officially opens". City of Toronto. 12 September 2020. Archived from the original on 17 May 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  14. ^ Gray, Jeff (11 September 2020). "Federal government to fund Toronto COVID-19 isolation hotel". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 6 January 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  15. ^ "COVID-19: What to Do if You Have COVID-19". City of Toronto. 22 September 2021. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  16. ^ "311 Knowledge Base". www.toronto.ca. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  17. ^ "Agenda". app.toronto.ca. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  18. ^ "Decision Body Profile". toronto.ca. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  19. ^ a b "An Infectious Idea: Toronto". City of Toronto. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
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