Report titled ‘Future Guelph Progress Report, 2025-252’ dated July 16, 2025, be received.

3:22:48which is Wellington Dufferin, 12 public health. Matthew Tenenbaum is going to be joining us remotely I

3:22:55believe. Matthew thank you very much for joining us we sort of see you does your video yes

3:23:09and can you check your audio for us? Wonderful can you hear me? We can see and hear you and your

3:23:14presentation is up on the screen so it is over to you go right ahead. Thank you your worship thank

3:23:21you councillors members of the public who are listening or watching thanks very much for having

3:23:25us here today to present some of our work to you this afternoon. For those who don't know me I'm

3:23:30Dr. Matthew Tenenbaum I'm the associate medical officer of health with Wellington Dufferin Public

3:23:34Health and I'm here today to speak with you a little bit about our work in 2024 how we monitor

3:23:41and measure our performance and also more broadly how we've taken approach to maximizing the impact

3:23:46we can deliver for our community. Next slide please. So as one of your local boards and shared

3:23:53services WDG Public Health is responsible for improving the health of the 150,000 people living in

3:23:59the city of Guelph as well as the approximately 200,000 people living in Wellington and Dufferin

3:24:04counties. We prevent and control health threats while also working where we can to go upstream

3:24:09to promote people's overall health and well-being to prevent things before they occur and operationally

3:24:15practically speaking this plays out through many diverse programs and services that we offer to our

3:24:20community. Next slide please. Now when I spoke with you this time last year about our 2023 data

3:24:29I shared some of our metrics like the work that was done that year and I'm here today and pleased

3:24:33to share some additional data on this slide and the one that follows that reflect our work in 2024.

3:24:39This data is a small subset of what we track within our agency's VI solutions our business

3:24:44intelligence systems and while you can see some indicators on this slide and one that follow

3:24:49rather than focusing on each element of this data I want to step back and emphasize the breadth

3:24:54of the work that we do and the ways that we touch people's lives in public health.

3:24:59These indicators represent just a glimpse into how public health has opened into everyday life

3:25:02in the city of Guelph and elsewhere. We're there when families welcome a new baby,

3:25:06our child gets their school vaccines, when a senior seeks preventive dental care

3:25:11or when someone needs urgent care after an animal bite. Whether it's drinking water, swimming pools

3:25:15or personal service settings our work quietly supports the routines and relationships that

3:25:20make up people's daily lives. Next slide please. Public health operates quietly in the background

3:25:26until the moment it matters most. Whether we're preventing illness, supporting families or safeguarding

3:25:32in the environments around us our work is fundamentally about enabling people in Guelph and

3:25:36elsewhere to live healthier and safer lives. Next slide please. Now I want to speak a bit more in

3:25:44greater detail about some of our key accomplishments in the previous year 2024 some of our success stories.

3:25:49Next slide please. So we're going to start speaking a little bit about infectious diseases which

3:25:54obviously given the COVID and measles is very topical and will always be a core part of public

3:25:59health work. So a lot of our work in public health doesn't involve responding to disease

3:26:03threats and risks in our community. You saw a lot of this during the COVID-19 pandemic but

3:26:07even in normal times it is a core part of our work. This year 2025 there was significant

3:26:12measles activity driving a whole bunch of community response and in 2024 specifically we saw a

3:26:18substantial increase in the number of reports we got from individuals and families and physicians

3:26:24and hospitals of a number of diseases. A particular number of them were particularly

3:26:29significant increases things like pertussis or whooping cough which is an illness that can be

3:26:34prevented through vaccination or something like salmonella which is a foodborne illness you can

3:26:39get by eating contaminated food. Our public health staff investigate and collect important

3:26:44information whenever we find out about people who are ill with these or other diseases we collect

3:26:49information such as their symptoms how and when they may have gotten ill in the first place

3:26:54and who they may have passed illness on to. Analysis of this data then informs decisions

3:26:59and guides public health actions that we take they may be preventive or responsive and you can see

3:27:03some examples on that slide of key initiatives linked to those diseases that were increasing last

3:27:08year. Now depending on the diseases being reported public health may recommend a whole

3:27:14variety of interventions and we often work with the community and with key partners like

3:27:19healthcare partners hospitals family physicians etc to make sure that we can take actions to

3:27:24prevent and reduce the spread of really important diseases in our community. Next slide please.

3:27:31Now when members of the public contact us our client and community support team is often the

3:27:35first point they interact with in many ways this team is the front door to public health in our area.

3:27:40This team is a multidisciplinary group that helps residents navigate our services

3:27:45as well as other supports available in our community effectively this can be done by phone,

3:27:49email, web chat, in person and other other modalities. They're just taking the time between

3:27:55April and September of 2024 alone we connected that team with over with people in our community

3:28:01over 27,000 times. From vaccine questions to infant feeding advice to helping newcomer families

3:28:08find a dentist or a primary care provider every interaction is one more person who's better

3:28:13supported and more informed about how to stay healthy and make the most of their time in our

3:28:18community. Of that 27,000 number that includes over 2,300 inquiries that we received and were

3:28:24handled by our new AI powered chatbot on our website. Most of these occurred after hours on

3:28:30evenings and weekends and this just shows that our community is able to reach us for key information

3:28:36they want and need really any time of day 24-7. For the 27,000 interactions I mentioned and each of

3:28:43those 27,000 interactions was a single footstep that would be enough to walk from one end of the

3:28:48city to the other and back just to put that number in perspective and again each of those

3:28:52interactions represents a chance for us to better understand what our community needs,

3:28:57build trust and work with individuals and families to solve problems that matter to them.

3:29:01Next slide please. Now for this slide I want each of you to spend a moment picture a family enjoying

3:29:09a nice beautiful summer day in well maybe cooling off a splash pad, sharing a lush the favorite spot,

3:29:15swimming through the park, carefree. Now behind that experience of trying to enjoy summer weather

3:29:22are a number of quiet safeguards and part of the work that we do is to make sure people can have

3:29:27those safeguards in place so they can enjoy their lives and take those you know moments for granted

3:29:33almost. Just to kind of take some key examples of work that we did to support people to enjoy

3:29:37those everyday joys. In 2024 we did 275 inspections of pool spas and splash pads to ensure that conditions

3:29:45there were safe. We did over 100,000 catch basin treatments to make sure that we're controlling

3:29:50mosquito populations which can be a key nuisance as well as a key vector for West Nile virus and we

3:29:55did over 2,900 food safety inspections at restaurants and vendors and just about that number of perspective

3:30:01if you went to a different restaurant or food vendor every single day back to back to back

3:30:07it would take over eight years to visit all of the locations that our team expected last year.

3:30:13Now these are just a few examples public health doesn't always make headlines but our work is about

3:30:17helping people feel safe and well at home in their community. Next slide please. So now speak a little

3:30:25bit about looking to the future. Next slide please. So we recognize in our agency that public health

3:30:32and much of the world is really evolving and we as an agency are trying to lead that evolution by

3:30:37using technology to deliver our services in a way that's smarter faster and more accessible.

3:30:43So in 2024 as well as in 2025 to date we launched, scaled and matured several innovations powered by

3:30:49AI and automation. One of the most impactful of our of these was our new system for processing

3:30:55vaccine records. Oftentimes we spent a lot of time working with physicians and families and parents

3:31:01asking them to submit records to us to make sure people are up to dates in their families

3:31:06and they often submit records to us in any number of formats. These can be emails,

3:31:10faxes, voicemails even handwritten notes sometimes and our AI system can now extract

3:31:15key information from those submissions, prioritize the information to surface those things that are

3:31:22most urgent or important and make sure we're documenting that information in appropriate places

3:31:26securely. What this means for people is faster turnaround. It means more up-to-date data for

3:31:31us, it means fewer students being suspended from school, it means better client service and it means

3:31:36more of our staff time available for direct client interaction. During the spring's meals

3:31:41outbreak our automated system generated over 5,000 personalized letters that went out to families of

3:31:47children that were not up to date with their vaccines. Each of those letters was tailored to

3:31:51that child immunization status, letters of cells were produced in a matter of minutes and we were

3:31:55able to go from end to end of that process in just a couple of days which is incredible and not all

3:32:00would have been possible before automation. As an agency we're also piloting voicemail

3:32:05transcription so the idea behind this is that we are allowing urgent calls we receive to be

3:32:10transcribed and categorized and triaged in real time including after hours and therefore the

3:32:16information gets people who need to receive it in a priority sensitive way as quickly as possible

3:32:22and we determined that this technology alone could grip the equivalent of a full-time public

3:32:26health nurse who could then be redeployed to provide other client or public-facing work.

3:32:31Now these tools aren't just futuristic, novelties, they're really practical solutions

3:32:35the challenges that we face today, they reduce delays, they improve equity and they allow our

3:32:41team to spend more time with the needed most. They're also examples of how to contribute to a

3:32:44stronger more resilient public health system for the future. Next slide please. Now we are fortunate

3:32:52in our area to be able to serve a vibrant community that people want to come and live and work in.

3:32:57As it happens we are one of the fastest-going parts of the province of Ontario. We know that over

3:33:02the past decade a population grew by about 20% and we anticipate to grow by about 50% between now

3:33:09and the year 2021. As our community grows we remain committed to delivering good value for

3:33:15money to residents and taxpayers in wealth and throughout our region and we're already beginning

3:33:19to see the effects of this significant growth on our programs. We're seeing more vaccines going into

3:33:23arms, more dental clinics, more inspections, more new moms and baby scenic support. The demand is

3:33:29definitely growing and we are keeping pace with that so far. Now we've been able to manage this

3:33:33without increasing our staffing levels. We're really operating at a similar FTE count that's

3:33:38remained static over the past decade. That reflects our commitment to doing more of what we have but

3:33:43it also highlights how stretched our capacity is going to become. Now we do continue to innovate,

3:33:48to automate, digitize, try out new ways of delivering our programs and services in a way that may

3:33:53sense for our evolving community but at the same time we want to acknowledge that funding is going

3:33:58to be a greater challenge for us going forward. Provincially speaking we know that recently

3:34:03over the past decade our funding has been very stable and we expect in our years we're going to

3:34:08be looking at between zero and one percent annual growth. Compare that against our operating costs

3:34:14which are growing at about three and a half percent per year due strictly to inflation without even

3:34:18accounting for population growth itself. Now thanks to steady investment for our municipalities

3:34:22including the city of wealth we have been able to maintain high quality services but we do know

3:34:27that as the population grows the funding gap is going to become more noticeable and we see this

3:34:32as a challenge that we'll have to navigate together. Our continued partnership with the city will be

3:34:36key sustaining the services that keep our community healthy. Next slide please. I want to thank you

3:34:44again for the opportunity to speak with each of you today. I also want to mention that if you'd

3:34:47like to learn more about our programs services and the impact that we're making in the community

3:34:52I will invite you to explore our 2024 community report which is available on our website at

3:34:57WDGPublicHealth.ca. I'll just end by saying that we're proud to be part of the fabric of this growing

3:35:02city and we look forward to continuing our work together to support the healthier wealth. Thank you.

3:35:09Thank you very much Matthew. We really appreciate you closing us off today on all the presentations

3:35:16and the good work you're doing as well on your whole team. So is there any follow-up

3:35:21for Matthew at all from Public Health? Yes, Councillor Downer please.

3:35:27Thank you Dr. Tenenbaum. That was interesting and thanks for the presentation and thank you for

3:35:32all the great work that you do to keep our community healthy. I'm a frequent dog walker and often to

3:35:39the country and what I hear about from people is the explosion of ticks this year which seems to be

3:35:47more than any other time. And I noticed you said you had in your vector-borne disease section on

3:35:55your slide that you'd had 131 black-legged ticks identified. So do people bring in ticks to you

3:36:02to do this and because that's sort of the things I'm asked about people so what should I do with

3:36:07this tick? I'm not sure so. Yeah so three and a half to you Councillor Downer that's an excellent

3:36:14question and definitely the way we are understanding the risk around ticks is quite different now than

3:36:20it was five or ten years ago. It used to be the case people would bring in their tick in person.

3:36:25We'd have a member of our staff look at it. We might give the people a sense of which kind of

3:36:29tick it is and whether it causes a disease like Lyme disease that we're concerned about. We have

3:36:35moved to actually fully digitizing that process so what people can do now is they can take a photo

3:36:40using their smartphone, upload it as part of a web form with some key information about the

3:36:45circumstances of where they found it and we both collect that to understand where and what kinds

3:36:51of ticks we're seeing in our community and also communicate with that person to let them know

3:36:55whether there's any action they need to take. There are particular kinds of ticks, particular

3:36:59species that can be identified based on how they look that carry different diseases but we are

3:37:05definitely seeing lots more interest in this issue. People are certainly much more aware

3:37:09of Lyme disease and other diseases that ticks carry. That's partly what's behind the increase in

3:37:14what we're seeing but it also is very true that the areas that ticks are affecting are themselves

3:37:21growing as a consequence of climate change. This has been a really, it's not a trend that

3:37:27ebbs and flows that has been consistently over the past five ten years, the case that we're seeing

3:37:31more and more of Ontario and more and more of our area being tick risk areas and it's unfortunately

3:37:36just going to be a significant concern going forward. People have to be aware of as they engage

3:37:41in outdoor activities. Okay, thank you. That's all very helpful. Have you seen an increase in

3:37:47Lyme disease in this time in the last five years? So we have seen an increase in Lyme disease that

3:37:54actually was one of the diseases that we noted a significant increase in in 2024. We know that

3:38:01Lyme disease numbers are, they're very helpful in terms of us understanding the human impact of

3:38:07what the ticks are doing but we also know that not everyone who has Lyme disease ends up being

3:38:12counted. There are still challenges around people recognizing the disease, going to a doctor, getting

3:38:17diagnosed and the data that we have is always incomplete. I mention that just because it means

3:38:21that we see more variation in our Lyme disease numbers than we do in our tick numbers. The tick

3:38:27numbers are really the key metric you look at in the picture of the evolving risk in our

3:38:31community. Okay, thank you. I've never learned more in my life about ticks or Lyme and I haven't

3:38:40lost five minutes so that's great. All right, I don't see anything more from anyone so thank you

3:38:48very much. We appreciate your time and your work. Thank you. And back to staff. Is there any questions

3:38:55of us to staff? No? Okay, that brings us to the end. Thank you very much everybody for waiting

3:39:03through that. Is there anything at all that staff would like to say before I go to the bylaws?

3:39:10No? Okay. Councillor Billings, I have you down for the bylaws. It will pop up on the screen for us.

3:39:18That bylaw 202521122 be approved subject to section 28411, four of the municipal act. I'll move

3:39:29it seconded by Councillor Gibson. Great and I think there's the other one there as well right?

3:39:38To the second one. Proceed. Oh, it's the same one. They caught it. Okay. Yeah, I just wanted to make

3:39:46sure that I knew that I was just testing you so. No problem. All right. Is there anything on the

3:39:53bylaws? Can I call the vote? Yes, I can. I'll call the vote. Is anyone against the bylaws?

3:39:59Nobody? Who would love to put their hand up for adjournment? Okay, Boussatil and I'll go online.

3:40:07Keaton. All right, perfect. Call the vote on adjournment. Anyone against adjournment?

3:40:14Nobody. Thank you very much, everyone. Have a great rest of the night. Bye bye.