A significant shortage of Environmental Health Officers is forcing Northern Health to focus on areas of high risk to public health.
EHOs are responsible for assessing and addressing public health risks, and permitting and inspecting drinking water systems, food establishments and more.
But, in pandemic times, they have also played a role in investigating and controlling Covid outbreaks.
While all Health Authorities are experiencing staffing issues, Northern Health currently only has about one third of required EHOs.
Because of this, the Authority is temporarily focusing on high priority scenarios, such as food and water-borne illnesses, communicable disease outbreaks, water quality assessments, and drinking water advisories.
Due to this, processing time for permits will be longer, and the frequency of inspections in lower-risk communities will be reduced.
Northern Health will continue to aggressively recruit new EHOs during this time.
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