October 2010 - Association Update
OPHA Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting was held at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 28, 2010 to bring the business of OPHA to the membership. The Annual Report, including the Audited Financial Statement, was approved and can be downloaded from our website under About/Structure and Governance. BDO Canada, LLP was appointed Auditor for the year ending March 2011. To maintain OPHA's charitable status, members voted to reword its objectives. The Objectives are:
- To advance health literacy by educating members of the public and participants in all levels of the health system on the importance of health protection and promotion, and disease prevention strategies and techniques, to prevent or reduce infectious and chronic diseases and injury;
- To provide accurate information in the practice and techniques of public health, including health protection and promotion, and disease prevention;
- To support the continuing education of health professionals, especially with respect to public and community health.
The Members passed the following slate of Officers for the OPHA Board of Directors for 2011: (visit Structure and Governance/Board to download their contact information)
| President | Liz Haugh |
| President-Elect | TBA |
| Secretary | Marty Mako |
| Treasurer | Monica Mitchell |
| Member-At-Large | Pemma Muzumdar |
| Member-At-Large | Larry Stinson |
| Member-At-Large | Mohamed Kadry Taher |
| Member-At-Large | Kevin Churchill |
| Member-At-Large | Susan Kniahnicki |
| Member-At-Large | Mary-Anne McBean |
The following resolutions and position paper were passed and can be found on the OPHA website under Our Voice in Action:
- Resolution #1: The Re-Appointment of Public Health Engineers at the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care;
- Resolution #2: Mandatory Training for Personal Services Workers;
- Resolution #3: Mandatory Training for Food Handlers;
- Resolution #4: Provincial Expansion and Promotion of the Air Quality Index (AQHI);
- Position Paper, Resolution #5: The World Health Organization Code and the Ethical Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes.
OPHA Presents Awards at the Fall Forum
At the Welcome Reception on Tuesday evening, OPHA was honoured to present the following Awards.
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From L to R: Marty Mako, Board Secretary, OPHA; Theresa Marentette; Liz Haugh, President, OPHA |
The Dr. Sheela Basrur Scholarship: Theresa Marentette is the recipient of the Dr. Sheela Basrur Scholarship. Theresa is currently enrolled in the M.Sc (nursing) program at the University of Windsor. With more than 20 years of experience in Public Health, she has worked in many program areas of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit and has been a Program Manager in Sexual Health, Dental Health and currently Comprehensive School Health. She has demonstrated leadership in her partnerships with several local initiatives related to childhood obesity, injury prevention, and sexual health.
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From L to R: Marty Mako, Board Secretary, OPHA; Dr. Angela Cooper Brathwaite; Liz Haugh, President, OPHA |
OPHA Award of Excellence: Dr. Angela Cooper Brathwaite, the recipient of the OPHA Award of Excellence, has demonstrated leadership in Public Health. She has been a Program Manager of the Prevention of Injury & Substance Misuse Program at Durham Region Health Department and has significantly contributed to nursing practice and policy advocacy in Public Health.
This year OPHA is pleased to present a new award. As you know, OPHA has a revitalized visual branding — “& opha ” — to illustrate the importance of partnerships in public health and to highlight their influence on our organization.
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From L to R: Marty Mako, Board Secretary, OPHA; Hélène Gagné, ONF; Kent Bassett-Spiers, ONF; Liz Haugh, President, OPHA |
OPHA Community Partner Award: OPHA is pleased to announce that the Ontario Neurotrama Foundation (ONF) is the recipient of the first OPHA Community Partner Award. ONF has provided critical and ongoing support for the Ontario Public Health Injury Prevention Managers Alliance, in partnership with the Ontario Public Health Association and the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion. Since 2007, the ONF has worked with the Alliance to bring research evidence into practice at the local level. ONF has supported the Alliance in coordinated planning to meet the Ontario Public Health Standards, communication with relevant stakeholders, knowledge exchange, training, and partnership building.
The Honorary Membership Award and the Life Membership Award are conferred at the discretion of the Board of Directors and was not presented in 2010.
OPHA 2010 Strategic Directions and Objectives
At their September 30 meeting, the Board of Directors adopted the OPHA Strategic Directions. While more work is required to make the objectives SMART, we wanted to share with you the new directions for the next 3 – 5 years.
- Build a Business Plan for OPHA
- Build OPHA Capacity for Advocacy to Enhance our Organizational Impact
- Strengthen OPHA Membership
- Improve OPHA Branding and Communication
Member Profiles
With more than 25 years of experience in various public health, tobacco control, and chronic disease prevention roles, John Garcia believes that OPHA brings tremendous value to the public health field and to Ontario citizens. Throughout his career, John has been involved in interdisciplinary work in the public health area. He became interested in joining OPHA because it is the foremost interdisciplinary network of public health professionals in Ontario. His membership with OPHA has provided an invaluable networking opportunity that has greatly enriched his professional development. Read more of John's interview in the Members' Lounge.
Staff Updates
The Ontario Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance has been fortunate to have two skilled health promotion professionals volunteer this summer. Both have now gone on to pursue the career opportunities. OPHA thanks them and bids them farewell.
Nousheen Kanji has accepted a position in Tanzania, Africa, where she will be involved in public health/community-related work, and she will begin her exciting and life-fulfilling journey there in early October. Nousheen has been a tremendous help to the OCDPA over the past few months, particularly the Healthy Communities project, in lending her experience in knowledge translation and exchange, working with our Project Partners and related stakeholders on the KTE process, in revising the Healthy Communities Toolkit, as well as in assisting with other aspects of the Alliance.
Surbhi Kalia has worked with the OCDPA Advocacy Committee in the initial planning of OCDPA’s Advocacy campaign, Make Ontario the Healthiest Province in Canada by developing the background documents to support the campaign. Surbhi will now focus on finding employment in the public health field.
We would like to thank them for their commitment and dedication. We wish them both all the best in their future.
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