Latest news with #TrevorArnason
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trevor Arnason confirmed as Ottawa's top doctor
Dr. Trevor Arnason has been named Ottawa Public Health's (OPH) new medical officer of health, the city announced Wednesday during a meeting of city council. Arnason has been in the job in an interim capacity since February when Dr. Vera Etches left to become president and CEO of CHEO, eastern Ontario's children's hospital in Ottawa. Etches served as the city's top doctor through the COVID-19 pandemic, and her frequent public updates during that period made her a household name. Arnason joined OPH in 2019 as an associate medical officer of health, becoming deputy medical officer of health in May 2024, according to the city. Before joining OPH, he was the regional medical officer of health in Halifax. He served as the lead medical consultant for the city's COVID-19 vaccine distribution task force and was responsible for immunization programs, among other portfolios. Arnason was born and raised in Ottawa, completing his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Ottawa before getting his doctorate at the University of Toronto. He certified in public health, preventative medicine and family medicine during his residency. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Medicine and served as program director for its public health and preventive medicine residency program from 2021 to 2024.
CBC
23-07-2025
- Health
- CBC
Trevor Arnason confirmed as Ottawa's top doctor
Dr. Trevor Arnason has been named Ottawa Public Health's (OPH) new medical officer of health, the city announced Wednesday during a meeting of city council. Arnason has been in the job in an interim capacity since February when Dr. Vera Etches left to become president and CEO of CHEO, eastern Ontario's children's hospital in Ottawa. Etches served as the city's top doctor through the COVID-19 pandemic, and her frequent public updates during that period made her a household name. Arnason joined OPH in 2019 as an associate medical officer of health, becoming deputy medical officer of health in May 2024, according to the city. Before joining OPH, he was the regional medical officer of health in Halifax. He served as the lead medical consultant for the city's COVID-19 vaccine distribution task force and was responsible for immunization programs, among other portfolios. Arnason was born and raised in Ottawa, completing his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Ottawa before getting his doctorate at the University of Toronto. He certified in public health, preventative medicine and family medicine during his residency. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Medicine and served as program director for its public health and preventive medicine residency program from 2021 to 2024.
CTV News
23-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Dr. Trevor Arnason named Ottawa's new medical officer of health
Dr. Trevor Arnason speaks to CTV News Ottawa. May 1, 2025. Arnason has been appointed as the new medical officer of health for the City of Ottawa. (Shaun Vardon/CTV News Ottawa) Ottawa City Council has approved the appointment of Dr. Trevor Arnason as the city's new medical officer of health. Arnason has been serving as the interim medical officer of health since Feb. 1, after Dr. Vera Etches left Ottawa Public Health earlier this year to become the new president and CEO of CHEO. Arnason served as deputy medical officer of health in Ottawa since May 2024 and associate medical officer of health (AMOH) since 2019. 'As AMOH, he was the physician responsible for immunization programs and served as the lead medical consultant for the City of Ottawa's COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Taskforce. He has also been the AMOH responsible for portfolios in sexually transmitted and bloodborne Infections, chronic disease and injury prevention and mental health and substance use,' Ottawa Public Health says on its website. Prior to joining Ottawa Public Health, Arnason was the Regional Medical Officer of Health for Halifax, N.S. from 2016 to 2018. OPH says Arnason was born and raised in Ottawa and holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Biology and a Master of Science in Epidemiology from the University of Ottawa and a Medical Doctorate from the University of Toronto. Arnason earned a salary of $270,912 in 2024 as deputy medical officer of health. Etches, in her final year as medical officer of health, earned $325,484, according to Ontario's Sunshine List.
Ottawa Citizen
05-07-2025
- Health
- Ottawa Citizen
There's a tick population boom happening in Eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario is at the epicentre of a tick population boom, and with it, health officials are reporting the highest levels of Lyme disease in the province. Article content So far this year, there have been 186 confirmed cases of Lyme disease in south-east and Eastern Ontario, stretching from about Prince Edward County to the Quebec border, including Ottawa, according to Public Health Ontario. That is more than half of all the cases in the province since the beginning of 2025. Article content Article content Article content By far, the highest concentration of the tick-spread disease in the province is within the large South East Health Unit, which includes Smiths Falls, Brockville, Kingston, Belleville and Prince Edward County, among other regions. With 132 cases, it has the highest rate of Lyme disease in Ontario. Article content Article content Article content Ottawa, with 41 cases, and the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, with 13 cases, also have higher-than-average rates of Lyme disease. Those reported cases reflect the climate-driven growth of tick populations across the area and heightened risk of Lyme disease and anaplasmosis, which are both spread by blacklegged ticks carrying bacteria. Article content Ottawa Public Health said the case count for Ottawa is likely higher than those numbers suggest and will continue to increase as the season progresses because there is usually a lag in diagnosis, reporting and data entry. Article content Anaplasmosis is not as common and has not been seen in Ontario for as long as Lyme, but cases are increasing. It can cause flu-like symptoms, sometimes leading to hospitalization. So far this year, there have been 15 reported cases of anaplasmosis in Ontario. Article content Manisha Kulkarni, who is a professor at the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa and is scientific director of the Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network, conducts tick-population surveillance in Ottawa and elsewhere. Article content 'Yes, we are seeing a steady expansion of blacklegged ticks in the Ottawa and Eastern Ontario area, with detections of the agents of Lyme and anaplasmosis in many locations,' she said. Article content Among her work is a recent paper published in Nature, which identified high 'environmental risk' for Lyme disease bordering residential areas where they conducted surveillance in the western region of Ottawa. Article content Dr. Trevor Arnason, Ottawa's acting medical officer of health, said it is difficult to know whether Lyme disease is being underreported. But he hopes growing awareness, including through public health messaging about ways to prevent tick exposure, as well as the growing role pharmacists play, will protect people and reduce spread. Article content Since 2023, pharmacists in Ontario have been able to assess patients for tick bites and prescribe a post-exposure dose of antibiotics to prevent Lyme disease, reducing barriers to early treatment. Article content At some local pharmacies, there has been a steady stream of patients in recent weeks with questions about tick bites. Article content Patients who show signs of Lyme disease must see a physician or nurse practitioner for diagnosis and treatment. Article content Since the proportion of ticks carrying Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, is well above the 20 per cent threshold, prescribing a short dose of preventative antibiotics is standard for tick bites, said Arnason. Article content Article content 'We have to assume that all ticks could potentially pass on Lyme disease,' Arnason said. Article content It is a sign of the times that Public Health Ontario has created a real-time Ontario Vector-Borne Disease Tool which tracks Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, Powassan virus and babesiosis, all spread by ticks, in addition to West Nile disease, which is spread by mosquitoes. Vector-borne diseases are increasing as a result of warming winters and changes related to climate change. The online dashboard reports weekly on cases of the illnesses. So far this year, Lyme disease and anaplasmosis are the only vector-borne diseases reported in Ontario. West Nile disease usually shows up later in the summer.
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
More funding needed to support Ottawa's overdose prevention strategy: report
Ottawa's top doctor is asking the city's health board to petition the province for long-term overdose prevention funding as toxic drug death numbers continue to surpass pre-pandemic levels. According to a report by Ottawa Public Health, 207 opioid-related deaths were reported in 2023, a nearly three-fold increase from 2019 (65). The highest number of deaths occurred in the first quarter of 2023, with the most deaths occurring in the ByWard Market, Lowertown East, Wateridge Village and West Centretown neighbourhoods. This is the highest number of opioid-related deaths among Ottawa residents in recent years, OPH said. OPH also said there were at least 123 opioid-related deaths between January and September 2024, comparable to the number of deaths in the same period of 2022 but lower than 2023. Data for Q4 2024 is not yet available. The majority of opioid-related deaths were deemed accidental, and many were people aged 25 to 44 years old. The majority of those were also unemployed, with numbers reaching 54 per cent in 2023. 'There continues to be an urgent need for additional supports to more effectively address the ongoing toxic drug supply and the interconnections between a lack of safe, supportive and affordable housing, poverty, trauma, and additional harms that people can experience from substance use,' wrote Dr. Trevor Arnason, Ottawa's interim medical officer of health. But Arnason said the closure of one of four supervised consumption sites in Ottawa has left people who need access to lifesaving services with little to no options, exacerbating existing disparities and placing additional pressures on other sites and surrounding neighbourhoods. Last August, the Somerset West Community Health Centre's supervised consumption site was forced to shut down after the Ontario government banned the sites within 200 metres of schools and childcare centres. The move blindsided CTS officials in Ottawa, who warned it would lead to more overdose deaths. Around 19 per cent of people who died from accidental opioid overdoses were experiencing homelessness at the time they died, according to OPH data. The 2024 Point In Time survey found that 49 per cent of respondents stated a dire need for supportive housing services, 46 per cent needed food security resources and 33 per cent needed mental health resources. 'When asked about health challenges in the 2024 survey, 42 per cent of respondents stated they had a mental health issue and 37 per cent stated they had a substance use issue, with 57 per cent stating they had one or more health condition(s),' the OPH's report read. Arnason said a community-driven approach will continue to be a priority in 2025, which includes initiatives to expand overdose prevention initiatives, enhance outreach efforts and improve access to treatment and safer spaces for drug users. This also includes efforts to advance stigma reduction efforts, strengthen data and surveillance, and improve patient experience in acute care settings. 'The priority areas reflect the need to increase and co-ordinate outreach efforts to truly meet people where they are at, providing a wide range of immediate lifesaving services including overdose prevention and response as well as providing basic necessities and connections into spaces that offer wrap-around services,' he wrote in the report. Arnason also noted that while the two Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment hubs announced for Ottawa is a 'positive step forward,' gaps still persist in wraparound services for drug users. The HART hubs will not provide key harm reduction services such as supervised consumption services or needle exchange programs, which he said are key to reducing deaths and blood-borne illnesses among drug users. 'A sustainable, multisectoral, and multi-governmental response is needed to implement long-term, well-funded solutions across all seven pillars of the Overdose Prevention & Response Strategy. 'Central to this is the urgent need for safe, affordable, and supportive housing. In the immediate term, expanding coordinated outreach services that connect people to safer spaces and wraparound supports—including treatment that is available when and where people need it—has been highlighted as a priority,' the report read. But the report also note that sustainable long-term funding is crucial to combat the toxic drug crisis and expand efforts. Community-based services and social service providers need appropriate and sustainable funding to develop 'innovative solutions,' he said. This includes effective data collection, which is needed to drive effective decisions. Sustainable funding is also key to employ and retain health and social service workers who are already struggling with ongoing workforce challenges. 'Without adequate funding, organizations struggle to offer competitive wages, provide necessary training, and equip staff with the tools they need—leading to burnout, low morale, and the loss of skilled professionals,' Arnason wrote. Ottawa's interim medical officer of health is also asking for increased sustainable funding for services and resources for Indigenous, Inuit and Métis communities. This includes developing a new Indigenous Family Healing Lodge, supporting the Inuit Violence Against Women Shelter and supporting the Aging Out initiative, which helps Indigenous youth aging out of the foster care system/. 'This recommendation comes directly from First Nations, Inuit and Metis leaders,' Arnason said. Arnason's report will be discussed in the Ottawa Board of Health meeting on Monday, April 14. With files from Elizabeth Payne, Postmedia. Our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark our homepage and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed.
