The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit is looking into the future and plans to improve transparency and public trust.
The Health Unit has launched their 2026-2030 Strategic Plan, a guide that outlines how they will support and improve public health over the next five years.
The plan was developed by residents of Windsor-Essex, different community partners, and WECHU staff.
The plan focuses on improving health equity by engaging the public and strengthening partnerships with community partners, supporting prevention and early intervention by prioritizing programs that focus on children, youth, and families, and building a strong, innovative organization by investing in staff training, leadership development, a promoting a culture of learning.
Another focus in the Strategic Plan include strengthening public health monitoring and transparency by positioning the WECHU as a trusted, evidence-informed leader, and increasing the availability and accessibility to data.
Health Unit CEO Dr. Ken Blanchette says to improve public trust, it's important to have inclusiveness among the community.
"People will feel more open to having conversations, interacting with us, receiving the advice. We're reaching out to cultural communities that might've not been having conversations with us in the past... we're trying to learn from them, like how do we work together, from the Indigenous community, to other communities in the area... really good conversations about their perspective on health."
He says the plan offers a range of pillars.
"Probably the biggest piece in this is health equity focus, and to making sure that we advocate and move forward to getting fair, and equitable access to healthcare, and pieces across Windsor and Essex County. And then of course we focus on our staff in there as well, like the resiliency, the leadership, the growth in there, the efficiencies."
Blanchette says their presence on social media and allowing the community to attend their board meetings increases transparency.
"We are putting everything out there in the open, we want to be fully transparent of the work that's being done. As you can see in the presentations, especially over the last year... year and a half, we're really highlighting key elements that need attention as it relates to public health in our community."
The plan also supports effective decision-making by guiding how the health unit prioritizes programs, strengthens partnerships, and allocates resources.
The mission of the Strategic Plan is to work together to prevent illness and close health gaps so everyone can achieve their best health.
The Strategic Plan can be found by clicking here.