George Koutsoulis Career Spotlight
George Koutsoulis is a Public Health Inspector (PHI) who works for the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) in Regina. Below is his experience working with the SHA:
What area of health care do you work in?
"I work in Environmental Public Health which is a far reaching profession. We are community based, in other words we go to our clients in the community. PHIs ensure that the community is safe for the public. This is done by inspecting public facilities under the legislative authority of the Public Health Act and the regulations and standards and guidelines thereunder. Public facilities inspected include food preparation and processing facilities, child care, recreational water, public swimming pools, rental accommodations, campgrounds. We also look at the environment water safety by regulating small water systems and sewage disposal. We also teach educational programs such as food safety, swimming pool operators course, personal services and emergency preparedness courses and promote public health promotions such as animal bite prevention, hand hygiene, etc. Housing we deal with complaints for rental accommodations and for housing that may pose a health hazard to the occupants or the community. We try to work with the tenant and the landlord to resolve the issue. We also placard houses, in other words in some cases a dwelling may be at the point that it cannot be lived in. So at this point we will deem it uninhabitable, or placarded. Finally, we monitor and manage communicable disease outbreaks such as West Nile Virus and Lyme disease among other infections have been found to be transmitted locally and we are required to follow up."
How is your work-life balance as a Public Health Inspector? Please compare your current experience with other jobs you have had in the past.
"I have been a PHI for over 25 years, and previous to that I worked in the service industry. But I have to say that the work life balance is fairly good. Most PHIs are flex time so that we can set your work schedule to meet the needs of our clients."
Have you always wanted to be a Public Health Inspector? Tell us more about your career path!
"No, like most people, when you think about health inspectors you think restaurant inspections. Given that I used to work in the service sector in our family restaurant, I was introduced to health inspection as part of our routine inspections. He explained that there were career opportunities in this field and that I should seriously consider it as a profession."
Are there opportunities to further your career as a Public Health Inspector?
"Yes there are opportunities to grow your career. For example you can move up to a supervisor role with the SHA. The private sector also offers many opportunities such as commercial food processors. Finally, you can also work with other government agencies such as Ministry of Health, Public Health Agency of Canada, Agriculture, tribal councils, etc."
Do you have any advice for students or new graduates looking to pursue a career as a Public Health Inspector? Are there specialty areas that are in more demand than others?
"This is a challenging and rewarding career that provides a good mix of office work, field work, and being an educator. If you want to challenge yourself every day with something new to do as part of your career, then public health inspection is a field that you should seriously consider."
What is the number one thing you love about being a Public Health Inspector?
"The diversity of the work; one day you will do routine inspections, the next day you are teaching a course to the public, then you will be pulled into an outbreak investigation. This keep you on your toes but you are always learning new things and there is great variety in the work which I find very rewarding and keeps me from getting too bored. As the world changes so does our profession."
