The Board of Health has just approved a Strategy for Ottawa Public Health (OPH) that prioritizes work with the City of Ottawa for healthy communities.
OPH’s new strategic plan – Protecting our Community’s Health: Ottawa Public Health’s 2019- 2022 Strategy affirms OPH’s core mandate of health protection and promotion with a focus on prevention of disease and injury. Anchored in evidence and guided by best practices and community engagement, the strategy addresses the unique health needs of our City.
In a period of significant change, including the provincial plans for changes to the municipal funding formula and governance structure for public health across Ontario, this renewed strategy comes at an important time for OPH. It facilitates a continuity of service on key priorities like mental health and substance use and sets the organization up to meet new challenges and have a greater impact on the health of the population into the future.
The four Strategic Directions for OPH are to:
- Promote mental health and reduce the health and social harms of substance use
- Drive prevention across the health system
- Influence the social and physical environments that support health and well-being
- Maximize potential in people processes and resources
We are excited about how this strategy provides a path forward that is aligned with the City’s goals, and which involves improving our health system, for the health and well-being of people in Ottawa.
