Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) has released its 2024 annual report.
In the report, released to the media on July 8, new initiatives that were undertaken by HPPH last year were highlighted.
One of those was leading the infection prevention and control hub, which HPPH took over from the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance at the start of 2024. Dr. Miriam Klassen, Medical Officer of Health for HPPH, says the the regional hubs were mandated by the provincial government in 2020.
Dr. Klassen points out the strategy of the hub has changed a bit since COVID.
"The purpose of the hub has shifted a bit from a more reactive role during the pandemic to more proactive, and emergency preparing. So, there's always the risk of the next emergency, the next emerging infectious disease threat," she said.
Dr. Klassen says that is being proven with the recent measles outbreaks across North America. She says focusing on preparation is important, and a key role of the hub is to build capacity within things like congregate care settings. That includes long-term care homes, shelters, and of course hospitals.
"A key role of the hub is to build capacity in those organizations, those congregate care settings, so they all have their own emergency planning, their plans for infectious diseases and how they're going to detect it early and mitigate against spread," Dr. Klassen added.
Dr. Klassen says monitoring and preparing for infectious diseases remains a top priority, especially with the recent measles outbreaks across North America.
"If we stop any of the practices that have created an environment where we don't see these diseases, if you let down your guard they will certainly make a comeback, as measles has done," Dr. Klassen pointed out. "When we first started to see cases in North America, we began communicating with our health and social service partners, and certainly through the infection prevention and control hub, to all the congregate living settings, about how they need to prepare. So that included looking at staff vaccination rates and infection prevention and control measures."
Going forward based on what we're seeing with measles, Dr. Klassen says she wouldn't be shocked to see other diseases pop back up.
"It's entirely possible that other vaccine-preventable diseases will come knocking, or other emerging threats related to things like climate change. We're seeing more vector-borne diseases and we're preparing for that eventuality and likelihood," she added.
Another new initiative that HPPH achieved last year was leveraging technology to create the opioid monitoring tool. Dr. Klassen explains that they work with many partners, including in policing, first responders, education and other social services to help keep tabs on the opioid situation locally.
"We monitor things like overdose calls, emergency room visits, reports from healthcare professionals and support workers. What we can report on for the public to see are the number of deaths, the number of naloxone kits that have been dispensed, and any alerts that have been recent relating to drug overdoses or opioids," she stated.
In terms of national numbers, Dr. Klassen says the deaths from opioid overdoses have come down since a spike during the early years of the pandemic, but the numbers are still higher than what they were pre-pandemic. She adds that locally in Huron-Perth, they're hoping the downward trend continues.
"Our numbers in Huron-Perth are smaller so they jump around a little bit more, but we saw a similar trend where the numbers were decreasing in 2024, and hopefully we'll see something similar for 2025, but it's too soon to say," Dr. Klassen noted.
In terms of goals for 2025, Dr. Klassen says HPPH and other healthcare organizations will be getting the new Ontario Health standards given to them, so they will be able to set their mandate and plan financially for the coming years. She says they're also looking forward to reviewing and continuing to build on local partnerships that HPPH has, which at last count was well over 140.