COVID will remain a focus, but Dr. Reka Gustafson, Island Health’s new chief medical health officer, has other priorities as well.
Dr. Réka Gustafson, who as deputy provincial health officer led some of the province’s pandemic and toxic-drug updates, is now focused on the upcoming COVID-flu season, immunizations, and managing outbreaks in long-term care as she steps into her role as the Island’s chief medical health officer.
Island Health announced Gustafson as its chief medical health officer in July after Dr. Richard Stanwick retired in January. Gustafson stepped down from her leadership role at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control to take on the new role. Gustafson said the contributing causes of problematic substance use typically happen in childhood and adolescence. The health authority needs to address those contributors to the toxic drug crisis, whether through school programming or prevention of adverse childhood events, she said.
The proposed new guidelines are a sharp departure from the current guidelines, released in 2011, which suggested limiting alcohol use to 10 drinks a week for women and 15 drinks a week for men. Gustafson previously served as vice-president for public health and wellness with the Provincial Health Services Authority, as medical health officer for the City of Vancouver and as deputy chief medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal Health.