Ottawa Public Health conducting independent review of COVID-19 response

Ottawa Public Health says all children will receive a sticker after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at community clinics. (Jeremie Charron/CTV News Ottawa)

As Ottawa Public Health begins the gradual “demobilization” of its COVID-19 operations and focuses on operational recovery after two years of the pandemic, it will launch an independent review of its pandemic response to learn for the next emergency.

The Board of Health will receive an update from medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches on OPH’s Emergency Management during a meeting on April 25.

OPH’s Emergency Management supports emergency preparedness, prevention/mitigation and ensures integrated, safe and effective response to, and recovery from, emergencies with public health impacts.

The health unit says it has remained involved in the City Emergency Operations Centre and managed OPH-specific emergency operations since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

“Organizational recovery is an important phase in the emergency management cycle. Having led an unprecedented response, OPH has started its gradual COVID-19 demobilization,” says the report from Dr. Etches.

“The recovery planning process has one overarching goal: to build a stronger, sustainable local public health system that collaborates across health and social sectors.”

The recovery includes three key components:

• Recharge (support employee wellness)
• Restore  (restore prioritized services and programs)
• Reimagine (identify ideas and opportunities for the future)

“As well, evaluation is a key activity of recovery after an emergency and will be an important undertaking in 2022,” the report says.

“OPH is pursuing an independent review of its pandemic response given that it was of a much larger scale than usual emergency responses and much can be learned.”

Here is a COVID-19 timeline for Ottawa Public Health Emergency Management and the City Emergency Operations Centre:

• March 11, 2020 – City escalated to Activated Operations, the same day the first positive case was confirmed in Ottawa and the WHO declared a global pandemic
• Ottawa declared a State of Emergency on March 25, 2020. (State of Emergency ended on July 22, 2021)
• Ottawa Public Health entered Enhanced Operations and struck the COVID-19 Immunization Incident Management System structure on Aug. 16, 2021
• The city de-escalated to Enhanced Operations on Aug. 18, 2021
• Ottawa re-escalated to Activated Operations, the OPH COVID-19 Immunization Incident Management System transitioned into the EOC on Dec. 31, 2021
• De-escalated to monitoring of COVID-19 on Feb. 24, 2022
• City returned to normal operations on March 11, 2022