Outbreak Declared: Bethammi Nursing Home – 2nd Floor

June 17, 2019 - Officials at the Health Unit and Bethammi Nursing Home – 2nd Floor, located at 63 Carrie Street, have declared an outbreak of a respiratory illness.

Admissions, transfers, discharges and social activities have been cancelled for this unit until further notice. Visitors to this unit are restricted to family members and caregivers only, so please call the facility for more information.

Outbreak Declared: Southbridge Pinewood

June 14, 2019 - Officials at the Health Unit and Southbridge Pinewood have declared a facility wide gastrointestinal outbreak today at 11:30 am, located at 2625 E. Walsh Street.

Admissions, transfers, discharges and social activities have been cancelled for this unit until further notice. Visitors to this unit are restricted to family members and caregivers only, so please call the facility for more information.

3 Things to Think about This Father's Day

By Rosemary Scofich on
June 12, 2019

Father’s Day is coming up and it got me thinking about how around 80% of men will undergo a major life transition and become a biological father. Yet there are limited interactions with service providers to support men in this transition and there is a lack of information available to men regarding their health and wellness. If you ask Google about men’s health, the first options that are offered are tips for barbequing steak, weightlifting and sex.

Trees have Leaves?! Who Knew! My Vision Problems as a Kid

One day, when I was in Grade 2, my Mom and I were out driving around town and my mom pointed out a road sign that had some words on it. I said, “Umm, Mom? I don’t see any words on that sign? What are you talking about?”

Apparently, this sign was huge and my mom was shocked I couldn’t see the letters. So she tested me on a few more road signs, quickly discovering that I couldn’t read them and had poor long-distance vision.

Children's Visual Health Program

May 6, 2019 - The Thunder Bay District Health Unit is pleased to announce the launch of our Children’s Visual Health program. Mandated by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, this new program includes school vision screening and visual health promotion. From February to June 2019, free in-school screening for senior kindergarten students in 29 Thunder Bay and District schools will be provided, with plans to screen all SK students in Thunder Bay and District during the 2019-2020 school year.

Outbreak Over: Southbridge Pinewood Court

May 3, 2019 - The outbreak of respiratory illness at Southbridge Pinewood Located at 2625 E. Walsh Street has been declared over. All restrictions have been lifted.

The Health Unit is urging people to stay at home and refrain from visiting hospitals and long-term care facilities when feeling unwell to avoid spreading infections to those most vulnerable: young infants and children, the elderly and those with other chronic illnesses.

The Health Unit reminds the public to prevent getting and spreading infections by:

The Youth Vaping Epidemic – “Haven’t I seen this one before…?”

This past weekend I was scrolling through my Netflix list looking for something to keep my attention for a brief period. There’s a lot going on in my house and I never get a full 2 hours for something, so movies tend to be consumed in about half hour installments, usually while I’m working at something else. I made a selection and was about 10 minutes through the opening sequence when everything just started to feel really familiar.

Climate Change

May 1, 2019 - The 7 public health units in northern Ontario will be working together on climate change and health vulnerability and adaptation reports over the next 2 years with funding support from Health Canada. Climate change is a threat to human health around the world. The changing environment resulting from climate change will bring new health issues, and existing issues may get worse.