Co-chairs named for infectious disease committee

Toronto, ON – June 28, 2004 – Queen’s epidemiologist Dr Dick Zoutman, director of infection control services at Kingston General Hospital, and Dr Dave Williams, medical officer of health for Thunder Bay, have been named co-chairs of Ontario’s new, permanent expert committee on infectious diseases.

The Provincial Infectious Disease Advisory Committee (PIDAC) was announced last week by Ontario’s Health and Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman, as part of the government’s new action plan to overhaul the province’s public health system.

Called Operation Health Protection, the three-year action plan will address the recently-released recommendations of the Ontario Expert Panel on SARS and Infectious Disease Control, which was chaired by Dr David Walker, Dean of Queen’s Faculty of Health Sciences.