Correspondence from Vancouver Island Health Authority Re: Local Health Area Profiles

October 10, 2012

Mayor Graham Hill and Council The Town of View Royal 45 View Royal Avenue Victoria, BC V9B 1A6

Dear Mayor Hill and Members of Council:

Re: Local Health Area Profiles

Each of our communities has a unique and changing profile of social, environmental and economic conditions including factors such as income, housing, education, and social support levels. These conditions, often referred to as the determinants of health, influence the health and wellbeing of people who live in our communities. In turn, the health of our residents can affect a community's economic and social wellbeing.

You may therefore be interested in reviewing, on a periodic basis, recent data on demographic, social and economic measures, health status, and health care service use for your area. The Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) has committed to producing summary documents with this information on an annual basis. The documents are called Local Health Area (LHA) Profiles, and one has been produced for each of Vancouver Island’s 14 LHAs. The LHA Profiles can be found on our webpage at the following link: http://www.viha.ca/mho/stats/lha_profiles.htm

The statistical information in these profiles is compiled from a variety of sources, including BC Statistics, BC Vital Statistics, the Ministry of Health and the Canadian Institute of Health Information.

These profiles are meant to provide some insight into factors that are contributing to or affecting health. Addressing these broad factors, however, requires partnerships between community groups, governments at all levels, organizations, members of the public and others. Developing partnerships is essential.

It is hoped that you find the information in these profiles useful. If your Council or Board would like to have a discussion or presentation about these profiles, either in general or regarding a specific issue, please let our office know. We would be pleased to support you in reviewing this with you.

Sincerely,

Richard S. Stanwick, MD, MSc, FRCPC, FAAP Chief Medical Health Officer

Dee Hoyano, MD, FRCPC Medical Health Officer

Murray Fyfe, MD, MSc, FRCPC Medical Health Officer

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