News

SWPH Completes First Dose Vaccinations in Long-Term Care Home Residents

Southwestern Public Health has accomplished a key milestone in its COVID-19 immunizations strategy with the successful completion of first doses for all eligible long-term care home residents in the region.

Over a three-week period that began January 12, more than 1,100 of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were administered with the support of long-term care home staff and administrators, and the COVID-19 Immunizations Task Force at Southwestern Public Health. The health unit also partnered with Oxford...

Southwestern Public Health Region is Shutting Down

Provincial shutdown limits interactions to those within your own household.

Due to surging cases Ontario is shutting down the province to spare lives and a pressured health care system.

On December 26 at 12:01am, Elgin County, Oxford County and the City of St. Thomas will face closures and further restrictions on businesses and services. Unlike during the previous lockdown These restrictions are expected to last for at least 28 days.  

“We had hoped not see a shutdown,” says Dr. Joyce Lock,...

SWPH Advises Households to Self-Isolate After COVID-19 Testing

Southwestern Public Health’s Medical Officer of Health has new advice for household members of symptomatic people awaiting COVID-19 test results: stay home.

“COVID-19 spreads when people have close contact with each other. Our case history has many examples of multi-member households infected with the virus. For this reason, we’re asking everyone in the household to stay home until COVID is ruled out for the symptomatic individual,” says Dr. Joyce Lock, Medical Officer of Health at Southwestern Public...

SWPH Healthy Growth and Development program introduces ‘Know & Grow’

Southwestern Public Health is excited to introduce ‘Know & Grow’ as a sub-brand for its pregnancy and baby support

Southwestern Public Health wants to make it easier for families to find services for pregnancy and baby support.

“We had different program names in Elgin County and in Oxford County. We hoped it would be much easier for families to find us if they only had to remember one name, so ‘Know and Grow’ was born,” says Felix Harmos, Program Manager of Healthy Growth and Development for...

SW Ontario health units offer strategies to Rethink Your Drinking

Southwestern Ontario health units offer strategies to Rethink Your Drinking

Public health units from across Southwestern Ontario are combining efforts to help parents and caregivers curb teen substance use through the Parent’s Matter campaign, an initiative of the Rethink Your Drinking collaborative.

The campaign provides parents with practical, everyday strategies known to prevent or delay teen alcohol and drug use. The six strategies in the campaign are:

• Knowing what is going on in your child’s...

Southwestern Public Health Responding to Increase in Cases within Norwich Township

November 15, 2020

On the heels of a decision by the Rehoboth Christian School in Norwich, Ontario to voluntarily close its doors following a number of cases of COVID-19 in the school community, Southwestern Public Health is providing the community with an update about the 11 confirmed positive cases in the Norwich region.

“There is not one source of transmission or one event to explain this increase in cases. As we have seen across the province, ups and downs in cases are to be expected,” says Dr....