Algoma Public Health strategic direction to get ‘refresh’

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Giving Algoma Public Health’s strategic direction a “refresh” will lend stakeholders an increased sense of ownership, officials say.

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Especially for those not on board when the current draft was developed in 2019 and approved by the Board of Health the following year.

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“The benefit of doing a refresh is that it really allows the full agency to be engaged to own the plan on the go-forward, which is key to the implementation,” APH CEO and medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Loo told the board Wednesday evening, prior to it approving APH’s recommendation.

Following much discussion, the board gave the green light to a request for proposal to hire an external consultant to update the current strategic directions, keeping aspects that staff say represent their work, and improving on such things as language that relates to the duties of all APH employees while providing a “clear and strong” description of the role of public health for employees, clients, partners and communities they serve.

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The meeting heard that $25,000 has been earmarked for strategic planning in 2025, and the board approved an additional $25,000 to be budgeted for 2026 work.

Loo said a third party is more likely to give a “frank, honest response, which I think is really important in this type of work.”

“We know there are a lot of changing external factors, whether that’s climate change, whether that’s reemerging infectious diseases like measles, whether that’s the political landscape,” she added.

“I think thinking about these specific issues in the context of what we are doing now can be very timely and important to how we approach the next few years.”

Public Health Ontario standards require the board to have a plan that establishes strategic priorities over three to five years.

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Officials heard recent reflections from across the agency indicate room for improvement in the current blueprint.

Canvassing stakeholders over the summer found many APH employees consider their work “well aligned” with many aspects of the current strategic directions, however, not all felt their work was included in the plan, particularly those who do not work directly within a public health program team.

Many said improvements could be made to better describe the role of public health so that they “resonate” with employees, clients, partners and Algoma communities. Also, the revised product should have a steering committee, launch event and evaluation plan, and should consider an external advisory committee to ensure “optimal” promotion and implementation.

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Loo said the effort gleaned “strong” engagement, mostly from the outlying area.

“There is a strong sense that the directions outlined currently are well aligned,” Loo said. “‘Does this plan meet the needs of our agency, our partners, our clients, our communities?’ The answer is, ‘To an extent.’

“What we have is good. It’s probably time to do a little more thinking given the external environment, particularly given where we are at with government funding and plans.

“We think this work lays a good foundation for a more formal process.”

The board heard that throughout the five years that the current plan has been in place, multiple “major” events have occurred, including responding to COVID-19 from 2020 to 2022, followed by a merger feasibility study with Public Health Sudbury & Districts in 2023, pivoting the agency’s focus. Responding to COVID-19 coincided with the start of the current plan, resulting in no formal launch, evaluation strategy or direction from the steering committee. In 2023, the board approved a revitalization of the current draft, which has stayed in place.

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Board member Sally Hagman asked how Algoma’s plan compares to those of Public Health Sudbury & Districts and Thunder Bay District Health Unit, and if APH could “gain any insights from them.”

“It always helps to compare and contrast to see if we’re all on the same wavelength or if we’re on a different wavelength,” Hagman said.

Loo said it’s possible to consider Northern counterparts.

“Anecdotally, I could say that across all the health units (in Northern Ontario), the mission and vision are very similar,” she added.

Alternate options offered to the board Wednesday included recreating the current strategic plan entirely with new directions, ensuring clients, partners and communities, are included in the revision. The third option included keeping the current plan and focusing on implementation and evaluation of the strategic directions over time, as well as clarifying the role of public health to employees, communities, clients and partners.

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Board member Jody Wildman asked if the third option would be more feasible given that nothing “groundbreaking” would likely come from the proposed refresh.

Loo emphasized the ownership element, adding staff supported the recommended option during a recent town hall meeting.

“I think it can still be done under the umbrella of the existing strategic direction,” Loo said. “But given that this board and many current staff were not there at the inception of this strategic plan, it’s harder for folks to own that work when they weren’t the ones to go through the process of coming together with this language and these directions in the first place.”

Wildman agreed employee engagement is significant.

“If they’re on board with the next step of hiring a consultant, then I have no problem with (that choice),” he said. “If it’s more (important) to them that they want to see ongoing engagement and continuous improvement, then I think that’s the process we have to think about.

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“I feel that the key from staff’s point of view is they want to be engaged in not just doing their job on a day-to-day basis, but how they can be doing their job better.”

Board chair Suzanne Trivers said it’s “really important” that officials don’t consider the mission as completely rewriting the strategic plan.

“It’s a refresh, making a more robust plan, it’s about engaging more people and getting ownership for the current staff. Engagement is how you get that ownership,” she said.

Loo agreed, saying much work can be done internally, while an external third party might be given “very specific” tasks.

“We’re likely not wanting to do a 180-degree turn, not even a 90-degree turn,” she said. “There might be adjustments of 45 (degrees) or less.”

jougler@postmedia.com

On X: @JeffreyOugler

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