Dr. Paul Roumeliotis will remain in his position as the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) medical officer of health, a title he has held since 2007. ALPHA is the peak body for Ontario’s boards of health and public health units. The organization advises governments and other health organizations “to advocate for a strong, effective and efficient public health system across the province”.
Dr. Roumeliotis said he was honoured to be appointed as the association’s president, and said COVID-19 had made the association’s role even more important. “During our current COVID-19 pandemic, alPHa’s role in advocating for and protecting the health of Ontarians is more important than ever,” he said. “I am looking forward to working with our multiple government and community partners and stakeholders as we plan for and enter the recovery phase of this pandemic.”
Dr. Roumeliotis came to prominence early in the pandemic, when he coordinated the local response to the federal quarantining of cruise ship passengers at the Nav Centre in Cornwall. His role at the EOHU continued to involve overseeing and coordinating local case, testing and contact management, data collection and reporting, outbreak management, emergency measures and a mass immunization strategy for the region.
In addition to his roles at the EOHU, Dr. Roumeliotis also sits on the Provincial Public Health Measures Table, the Provincial Health System (R5) Table, the Education Sector Preparedness and COVID-19 Outbreak Planning Tables, and Ontario’s Provincial Council of Maternal and Child Health. He also holds regular briefings with the media and the public about the current state of the pandemic in the region.
