Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Dr. Piotr Oglaza met with local media via Skype on Thursday to discuss his first week on the job as Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington’s medical officer of health.
The Kingston resident held the role of Hastings-Prince Edward’s medical officer of health since 2018 and now takes over on a permanent basis for Dr. Kieran Moore, who was promoted to Ontario’s chief medical officer of health.
As part of his introduction Oglaza, who comes from a background in preventive medicine, outlined what Public Health means to him.
“Public Health involves looking at the big picture,” said Oglaza. “To understand that big picture and that complexity, we can devise much more effective interventions. Public Health happens when we understand that the individual cannot be well and healthy unless the community is healthy and strong. Public Health is our focus on the health of the community. This means that Public Health involves our caring for each other in a way that makes individuals and communities better. Of course there are many ways that we can do this such as disease prevention, promotion of health and wellbeing. The essence of our work in Public Health is that we all benefit when we work to build a healthy community, just like the health of the individual tree depends on the health of the forest.”
Oglaza worked closely with Moore and former KFLA medical officer of health Dr. Ian Gemmill prior to assuming his role with HPE Public Health.
“It is from these two mentors I learned what it truly means to be a medical officer of health,” said Oglaza. “I worked hard to bring into practice that teaching into Hastings-Prince Edward and I will bring it back to KFLA. I say in my role it is important to be hands on, to be present, on the ground, in the field and be approachable, collegial and decisive.”
His first week on the job was spent meeting with KFLA Public Health’s managers and staff as he settles into the new role.
“My vision for Public Health truly revolves around that concept of bringing community together and leading the way towards changes that will help us deal with the health challenges in the next decades,” said Oglaza. “That includes very important topics such as climate change, mental health and addressing health inequalities. In my role I intend to continue building relationships with Indigenous communities and work towards reconciliation. As a Queen’s graduate a phrase that comes to mind is thinking globally and acting locally.”
Coming from the neighbouring health unit, he says he will share many of the priorities from his previous post.
“There’s a close collaboration between Public Health Units in the east,” said Oglaza. “When we look at looks at the types of priorities or the issues or problems that communities or individuals are facing there are some differences but the big picture in some regard remains very similar. I don’t see a vast difference. What I see is a difference in population density or population distribution so there are some unique differences that differentiate between the two regions but in terms of our approach from Public Health perspective, these priorities remain the same.”
Oglaza also provided an update on the local COVID-19 picture, which reported one new case on Thursday, dropping the active case count in the region to 27.
He noted no major spike following the Thanksgiving weekend was an encouraging sight.
“This indicates and confirms what we already hoped for and knew, that the vaccine is really effective and it does play that incredibly protective role in our community where it’s the best way to prevent us from getting infected and passing it to others and it does seem to work really well as demonstrated by no significant change in disease activity following the weekend where individuals might have had more contact,” he added.
There’s also been no evidence of large amounts of exposure within local schools. Though students have tested positive for the virus, the method of transmission has been from outside the classroom setting.
“That should boost confidence among parents and educational workers that schools are a safe place for everyone and we’re still encouraging immunization uptake among anyone who is currently eligible,” said Oglaza.
Updating the region’s vaccination rates, 89 per cent of those 12 and older have received their first dose while 84.7 per cent are considered fully vaccinated.