A Barrie student is the first local winner in a national poster design contest aimed at promoting the value of immunization.  

Last Saturday’s public influenza vaccine clinics were the last to be run by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit this season. 

The Barrie Colts and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit are teaming up with a game plan that helps athletes play to the best of their abilities by playing tobacco free. 

The Kelsey’s Flyers Junior C Hockey Club and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit have teamed up with a game plan that helps athletes play at the top of their game by playing tobacco free.  

The first week of public flu vaccine clinics has shown people are ready to roll up their sleeves to protect the community against influenza. 

Ontario’s 14 to 24-year-olds are being invited to flex their creative muscles and produce videos celebrating tobacco-free sport or recreation for a chance to win an iPad. 

The design of communities has an impact on the health of the people who live in them, and the coming municipal election is a good time to consider those impacts, suggests the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit. “Municipal decision makers play an important role in shaping the environment in which we live, and that includes understanding the connection between the built environment and health,” said Dr. Charles Gardner, the health unit’s medical officer of health. “  

This year’s Nutritious Food Basket survey shows that local residents with limited incomes don’t have enough money to afford a basic healthy diet.  

There is still time for sport and recreation groups to apply for a Play, Live, Be Tobacco-Free grant of $500 to develop and promote tobacco-free policies that support participants to perform at their best.  

Low-cost rabies vaccination clinics offered by participating veterinarians begin this week, providing an economical and convenient way for residents to get their pets vaccinated against the disease.  

Two horses from separate locations – central in the Township of Severn and central in the municipality of the Town of Gravenhurst - have tested positive for Eastern equine encephalitis virus. In response to this information, the health unit will be conducting additional mosquito surveillance in surrounding areas to provide a better understanding of possible additional areas of viral activity.  

As local youth head onto the fields and pitches this fall, it’s a great time for coaches, parents and organizations to get involved in making their sport and recreation activities tobacco free.  

As the G8 Summit approaches, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit continues its preparations to safeguard the health of the public, with an additional focus on the Huntsville community.  

As the world’s leading economies prepare for discussions on maternal health at the G8 Summit, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has taken a look at maternal health locally. 

With the G8 Summit less than a month away, the health unit has launched a new section on its website that contains links to helpful information for the public to stay healthy before and during the G8 Summit.  

The judges have completed their voting and aspiring movie directors from schools in Collingwood, Barrie and Bracebridge have been named winners in the annual Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit’s YSTOMP media contest.  

Bylaws helping youth stay tobacco free and supports for people trying to quit have earned four local organizations recognition as Tobacco-Free Champions by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit.  

The Barrie Trojans Swim Club is the first local group to be awarded a Play, Live, Be Tobacco-Free grant to help it develop and promote tobacco-free sports polices that proactively support participants, parents, coaches, officials and spectators to be tobacco free.  

This year’s Driven to Quit challenge encouraged 28,646 adults across Ontario to try to quit using tobacco products for at least one month for a chance to win a Ford Escape Hybrid or $5,000 vacation getaway. 

Playground injuries are a common reason for hospital visits in young children, but there are some simple ways that parents and caregivers can reduce the risk of those injuries happening in the first place.