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About the Ministry

Chief Medical Officer of Health

Dr. Arlene King

Since June 15, 2009, Dr. Arlene King has led Ontario's public health sector in her capacity as the province's Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) and has been heading the ministry's Public Health Division since July 2011.

As CMOH, Dr. King is guided by the Health Protection and Promotion Act and she functions as the primary link between Public Health Ontario, Medical Officers of Health/Public Health Units and government.

Dr. King is a passionate advocate for strengthening public health provincially as well as nationally and serves as Ontario's representative on the Pan-Canadian Public Health Network Council.

Her vision is to make Ontario the healthiest jurisdiction in the world supported by the best public health system in the world. She believes strongly that public health is everyone's business and that government should focus on a healthy public policy.

Dr. King is an internationally recognized expert in immunization, infectious diseases and pandemic preparedness. She has acted as a consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO) on polio, SARS and influenza and served as an advisor to the World Bank and Canadian International Development Agency on emerging infectious diseases.

Most recently, Dr. King served as a member of the WHO Review Committee on the Functioning of the International Health Regulations (2005) in relation to Pandemic (H1N1) 2009.

Dr. King received her medical degree from McMaster University in Hamilton, certification in Family Medicine from the University of Calgary and a Master's Degree in Health Sciences from the University of British Columbia. In 1992, she became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in Community Medicine (Public Health and Preventive Medicine).

Ontario's CMOH has authored or co-authored over 75 publications and speaks regularly on public health issues at a local, national and international level.