2024-2027 Strategic Plan

Our New Strategic Plan

We crafted this evidence-informed blueprint to guide and prioritize programs and services to address public health needs in the communities we serve. We developed the plan through four phases:

Vision & Commitment

We took stock of our past and current efforts to meet needs and began a process to explore and articulate our guiding vision, mission, and values.

Understanding

We conducted an internal and external consultation and received input from 847 clients and residents, staff and management, Board of Health members, and community partners.

Direction

We developed draft priorities, goals and strategies to align efforts, cultivate partnerships, and allocated resources to address public health needs.

Strategy

We finalized the crafting, presentation, and launch of our plan and will operationalize and monitor it through and accountability and reporting framework.

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View the 2024-2027 Strategic Plan!

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Voir le plan stratégique 2024-2027

Vision, Mission and Values

Vision:

A healthy community for all.

Mission

To foster healthy communities through partnership, preparedness, prevention, promotion, and protection.

Values

Accountability – We serve responsibly with honesty and transparency.

Adaptability – We respond flexibly to emerging trends and circumstances.

Collaboration – We increase capacity and connection through partnership.

Equity – We act justly and fairly, respecting unique needs.

Empathy – We are compassionate and understanding.

Priorities

Priority 1: Organizational Well-being

Goal:

To enhance engagement, learning, wellness, and development in our culture.

Strategies:

Establish pathways alongside employees for their growth and development.
Foster leadership through improved performance management and succession planning.
Nurture a psychologically healthy and safe workplace.
Strengthen communication, understanding, and cohesion within teams and between programs.

Rationale:

Many staff members expressed few opportunities to develop and advocated for greater autonomy in their roles. They also indicated many missed opportunities for collaboration between programs. By addressing these concerns, we will foster growth and development for people and programs, fostering a more cohesive and supportive organizational environment. We want to support and value employees, promote mental health, and lead by example. By investing in our workforce, we position ourselves to meet future challenges with a robust, engaged and capable team.

Priority 2: Health Equity

Goal:

To catalyze community attention and allocation of Health Unit resources to address social determinants of health.

Strategies:

Strengthen organizational and public understanding of discrimination, racism, and racial equity as public health issues.
Foster Mino-Bimaadiziwin (the good life) with Indigenous partners, communities, and individuals.
Advance initiatives to address mental health, substance use prevention, and harm reduction.
Cultivate our role within systems-level efforts to reduce poverty and homelessness.

Rationale:

Consultation feedback revealed a lack of understanding of Indigenous needs and culturally safe practices, and a need to bridge gaps in services. Racism and discrimination were seen as barriers in accessing services at the Health Unit and within the wider community, particularly among Indigenous populations. In addition, addressing substance use was broadly identified as an area of community need. Poverty and mental health were repeatedly mentioned as issues currently affecting Health Unit clients and area populations. By addressing the social determinants of health, we will prioritize support for communities, environments, and populations with highest needs.

Priority 3: Communication, Connection, and Collaboration

Goal:

To bolster external relationships to enhance public health outcomes.

Strategies:

Ground actions and relationships in our vision, mission, and values.
Raise awareness about the needs addressed by the Health Unit.
Develop relationships with community partners to collectively advance shared goals.

Rationale:

The vision, mission, and values of the Health Unit are the foundation of what we do and what we hope to achieve. They guide the actions of every staff member in their daily work.

Our consultation revealed the need for the Health Unit to more effectively and frequently communicate what we do and increase awareness of public health issues. Collaboration and increased connection will generate solutions to issues that broadly affect the communities we serve.