Conducting her periodic media scrum this week on her first anniversary on the job, Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit Medical Officer of Health Dr. Natalie Bocking took a moment to share the spotlight with her fellow public-health workers.
“This is the inaugural Canadian Public Health Week,” Dr. Bocking said of the week of April 4.
“Certainly COVID-19 has thrust Public Health Ontario and public health as a profession into the limelight. But really lots of work was happening behind the scenes before COVID-19.”
Any meeting of the HKPR board of health provides an overview of the other public-health services this agency co-ordinates – recreational water testing, home water testing, health-and-safety inspections, prenatal classes, and services geared to smoking cessation and sexual health are only a partial list.
Some level of these services has continued to be offered in spite of so many resources having to be diverted to waging war on COVID. But Dr. Bocking looks forward to a day when that is no longer the main topic of discussion.
“I am excited to highlight some of the work that does continue on with public health and the important work public health does to support our communities,” she said.
“In recognition of Public Health Week, I thank all the staff that work at HKPR. Every staff member continues to contribute to responding not only to the COVID-19 pandemic but all the other public-health work we do – and they have done so tirelessly with not a small amount of stress and strain and, for the most part, with a smile on their face.
“Thank you to all our staff, and to the community members and partners who have continued to support public health through these challenging times.”