Dr. Vera Etches looks back on her time as Ottawa's top doctor as she departs to head CHEO
Etches was the face of Ottawa Public Health during the COVID-19 pandemic
Dr. Vera Etches, whose calm demeanour and informative updates made her the face of Ottawa Public Health (OPH) during the tumultuous COVID-19 pandemic, is leaving her job as the city's top doctor.
After more than 15 years at OPH, during which she became the city's first female medical officer of health in 2018, Etches is about to take over as president and CEO of CHEO on March 3. She officially leaves OPH at the end of this month.
CBC sat down with Etches to look back at her time leading OPH, and to look ahead at what she's hoping to bring to her new role at CHEO, which serves patients from across eastern and northern Ontario, western Quebec and Nunavut.
Questions and responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.
What were some of the biggest challenges that you faced as medical officer of health, especially given the pandemic began two years into your role?
Historically in Ottawa, infectious diseases haven't been a leading cause of death for decades. And all the uncertainty with a new virus, it's hard to think back, but we didn't know that much about [COVID-19]. We didn't have tests. We didn't have supplies.
[We were] trying to figure out what is most important for the population to know at this time, what can we do to protect ourselves, our families, continuously adapting and updating information during that time.
How do you think the pandemic changed the way that public health, and even your role, were viewed?
In some ways, the role of public health remains the same. It's to protect people from infectious diseases, to promote health, to create environments where people can make the healthy choice and easier choice.
But things have changed in terms of the kinds of information systems we have to gather data, the degree to which we shared information with the public.
What also changed for us was how involved we are on the ground in the community. We've moved our services closer to people when we needed to immunize. We found not everyone can make it out to a mass clinic. Not everyone has a car, and people can't always make an appointment when they're living with other barriers like poverty and trying to hold down two jobs to feed their family.
We started vaccine clinics, but now they're neighborhood health and wellness hubs, and we offer dental screening and mental health referral and support for parenting.
LISTEN | Dr. Vera Etches also sat down with CBC Radio Ottawa Morning host Rebecca Zandbergen to reflect on her time at OPH
What do you see as some of the lingering effects of the pandemic?
One of the things that concerns me is the degree of social isolation that remains. People aren't out as much, and so that's part of our public health work now, is to try to use the services we have to also foster connections.
For example, we support new parents and ... instead of having a nurse visit individual families in their homes to support childhood development, how can we bring people together so parents are getting to know other parents and supporting each other?
If you could go back to the early days of the pandemic, is there anything that you would do differently?
I think emphasizing informed decision-making is really important, so taking some time to understand people who had questions, people who were accessing misinformation. Really from the beginning, trying to understand those systems and tackle them head on.
Our communications team was excellent. They used social media and humour to try to explain and prevent misinformation.
Was there anything [as head of OPH] that you feel like you would have liked to accomplish but didn't get around to?
I feel like chronic disease has gone into the background a bit, and yet it is chronic disease — diabetes, heart disease, cancers — that are still leading causes of death. Certainly the teams [are] continuing to work on ways we can prevent chronic disease in the community.
When we're planning neighbourhoods, to be able to have things we need within walking distance: schools, grocery stores, parks. And that enables people to be more active just naturally in their day, and helps to prevent chronic disease.
You're taking on a new role at CHEO. Why did you feel it was time to to move on from Ottawa Public Health?
People asked me to consider the role and when I looked at what CHEO is about and the work they have to accomplish, I realized that I will be able to bring experience that can help with their mission.
[I will be] bringing my experience of looking at population health, understanding the needs, partnering with other agencies in the community, making sure people really get the care they need, where it makes sense, when they need it.