​​​The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) and the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) have jointly developed a Communicable Disease Surveillance Protocol Guide with input from Public Health Ontario (PHO), to meet the requirements of the Public Hospitals Act 1990, Regulation 965. This regulation requires each hospital to have by-laws that establish and provide for the operation of a health surveillance program including a communicable disease surveillance program in respect of all persons carrying on activities in the hospital. The communicable disease surveillance program is to include the tests and examinations set out in any applicable communicable disease surveillance protocol published jointly by the OHA and the OMA and approved by the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.¹

The Guide is a tool that hospitals can use when developing and updating internal communicable disease surveillance protocols and includes suggested headings; commentary on what information should be included under each heading; links to sources of current expertise and advice; and in some sections, suggested language is provided. The Guide also provides a non-exhaustive list of the communicable diseases for which hospitals should develop a surveillance protocol.

Hospitals are encouraged to adapt these materials, as appropriate, for their local context. Links to PDF and Word versions of the Guide are provided below, as well as a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document has been developed to answer any questions that may arise from this new resource​​. ​​

Disease-Specific Protocols

OHA Members will have access to the disease-sp​ecific protocols that were previously posted on this page until September 1, 2024, and can log in with their username and password to download​ the documents. If you are an OHA member and do not have an OHA username or password, please crea​te a ​profile. For assistance resetting your password, please email info@oha.com​.

Questions?​

If a hospital has any questions about communicable​ disease surveillance or infection prevention and control, they may wish to contact:

• ​​The local Public Health Unit (contact information can be found here: https://www.phdapps.health.gov.on.ca/phulocator/

• Public Health Ontario: ipac​@oahpp.ca

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1. This language is taken directly from the Public Hospitals Act, which defines “Minister” as the “Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.”​