Dr. Ian Arra is out as Grey Bruce’s Medical Officer of Health.
The Ministry of Health issued a news release Thursday morning announcing Arra is moving on from his role as Medical Officer of Health at Grey Bruce Public Health, effective May 4.
While he won’t formally depart until May, the release from the Ministry says there is a new acting Medical Officer of Health for Grey Bruce as of today.
“Effective today, Dr. Brittany Graham, GBPH’s Public Health Physician Consultant, is assuming the responsibilities of Medical Officer of Health in an acting capacity,” says a statement from Jim Pine and Dr. Eileen de Villa, special advisors to Ontario Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kieran Moore. “Dr. Arra has offered his full support to Dr. Graham as she takes on these critical duties.”
Pine and de Villa are special advisors to the Chief Medical Officer and have been working with Grey Bruce Public Health to rebuild the region’s Board of Health, which has had its powers carried out by the Chief Medical Officer since last summer.
Bayshore News contacted the Ministry of Health for additional comment, but hasn’t received a response to questions.
Arra was appointed Grey Bruce’s Medical Officer of Health in January 2019. He departs after serving as the region’s top doctor for more than seven years, and was physician consultant for two years prior to that. Arra says he accepted a new role as consultant for the American College of Preventive Medicine.
“I believe this is the right time for this transition and I have full confidence in the Grey Bruce Public Health team to continue the important work of protecting and promoting the health of our communities,” Arra says in prepared statement. “I am deeply grateful to the dedicated staff for their professionalism and commitment that makes Grey Bruce Public Health exceptional as well as to the Boards of Health and board members, the Ministry of Health and the province for their support during the pandemic and recovery. I also want to thank our community members and partners — your collaboration has been essential to our success.”
Most notably during his time with the organization, he led the region’s health unit during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Arra tells Bayshore Broadcasting News, “The pandemic is a memorable time but the work after the pandemic, the recovery phase of any emergency is a lot of work. Most people don’t realize this just because it’s not in the news every day. I’m really proud of the accomplishments our team achieved during the recovery phase over the past few years.”
He says, “The team internalized the lessons learned from the pandemic and from three main accomplishments.”
Arra highlighted them saying, “One of them is the optimum management of COVID-19 outbreaks. Specifically in long-term care. We have 19 long-term care homes in Grey Bruce and we had zero related COVID deaths in these homes in the first second and third waves. That’s something I am very proud of. I can’t be proud more of anything else.
He notes, “Most of the deaths in other jurisdictions happened in long-term care versus our residents were protected. It’s worth nothing that we didn’t have more restrictions than the restrictions required by the province which speaks to the robustness of the team’s response.”
The second achievement I can think of is designing and implementing the mass vaccine system. The hockey hub.” Arra says, “The system was adopted in a number of jurisdictions across Ontario and beyond, nationally and internationally, New Zealand was one of the international jurisdictions that adopted this. We provided the blueprint to these jurisdictions and we provided presentations on how the system works and again, that, that’s from a small but mighty team is a huge accomplishment.”
He says, “The third one is the honour that was bestowed on me on behalf of my team from both Saugeen First Nation and Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation for our service during the pandemic.”
Arra says, “These three accomplishment really come to mind,”
He says, “When you think of the health of a community you can think of many things and it’s always, we want to better the future for our kids and grandkids to have a healthier future.
He adds, “It’s my full confidence in Dr. Graham and Grey Bruce public health team to continue the important work of protecting and promoting the health of our communities. I’m grateful for the professionalism and commitment from the team and I’m grateful for the community members and partners. I want to thank them. Their collaboration has been essential to our success.”
The province’s Chief Medical Officer assumed powers of Grey Bruce’s Board of Health eight months ago (August 2025), due to “serious concerns with the board’s ability to fulfill its responsibilities, including issues related to governance, leadership, financial management and human resources.” He then appointed Pine as his special advisor with regards to Grey Bruce Public Health. de Villa was also appointed as an advisor at a later date.
The Ministry of Health identified concerns with Grey Bruce’s Board of Health through an independent assessment conducted under the Health Protection and Promotion Act. An assessment report exists with details about the Ministry’s review of Grey Bruce Public Health’s board, but it has not been made public.
Last month, Pine and de Villa announced the appointment of two board members — David Nusko and returning member Chad Richards.
At the time, they also said Bruce and Grey counties were proceeding with their processes to appoint seven municipal representatives to a rebuilt Board of Health.
