SUDBURY—Public Health Sudbury and Districts (Sante publique Sudbury et districts) is the new name accompanying the just-launched 2018-2022 Strategic Plan for the Board of Health. These changes were approved at la recent meeting of the Board of Health for Public Health Sudbury and Districts (formerly Sudbury and District Board of Health).
The switch in name came in conjunction with the release of a new five-year strategic pan.
“We are really excited about this name change,” said Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, medical officer of health and CEO for the organization, in a release. “It really is putting what we do front and centre. We do public health; we are public health. Now it is officially in our name.”
“Our 2018-2022 strategic planning process included a great deal of engagement to gain insights into community priorities that could be incorporated into our strategic plan,” said Rene Lapierre, Chair of the Board of Health. “This strategic plan builds on our past successes and directs our future actions, working in partnership to create optimal conditions for health for all.”
In addition to engaging with stakeholders to develop the organization’s strategic plan, the planning process created an opportunity to reflect on how public health is understood within the community and ways to highlight the unique and important contributions of public health to creating and supporting opportunities for health for all.
“As part of our strategic planning process, we identified the need to review the organization‘s visual identity to make sure it was current and clearly reinforced our public health identity,” said Jeffrey Huska, board vice-chair and chair of the board’s executive committee. “The timing of the visual identity review aligned with the development of the new strategic plan, the modernization of the provincial Public Health Standards, and the application of the requirements under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.”
The strategic priorities for Public Health Sudbury and Districts (2018-2022) include: equitable opportunities- working to decrease health inequities and supporting all communities in reaching their full potential; meaningful relationships- establishing meaningful relationships that lead to successful partnerships, collaborations, and engagement; Practice excellence- striving for ongoing excellence in public health practice including, program, and service development and delivery; Organizational commitment- advancing organization-wide commitment and ensuring the organization is well positioned to support the work of public health.
“To continue building on our work, the organization’s vision and mission statements remain the same,” explained Dr. Sutcliffe. “These are, respectively, ‘Healthier communities for all’ and ‘working with our communities to promote and protect health and to prevent disease for everyone.”
In addition, Public Health Sudbury and Districts has adopted three key values to guide its work: humility, trust and respect.
