Board of health eyes next steps in merger

Members of the Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Board of Health are investigating the next steps in merging with two neighbouring public health units.

Kingston's public health unit is looking at merging with Hastings Prince Edward Public Health and the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit following the province's invitation for small public health units to voluntarily explore mergers, with financial support from the Ontario government to examine those options.

After several months of examining its options alongside the other public health units, the Kingston-area board voted in favour of proceeding with an application to the province, during its meeting at the end of March.

The tri-board merger committee, with members from all three public health boards of health, was formed in late 2023 to prepare a business case to the province, and that case was submitted by the April 2 deadline.

Now, committee members are focusing on “potential next steps” if the province accepts the proposed merger.

The committee is expecting to hear from the province by the end of this summer.

“While the initial mandate was focused on feasibility, the next phase will necessarily be focused on the challenging work of implementation,” local board of health member Nathan Townend, the deputy warden for Lennox and Addington County and a tri-board merger committee member, told the Kingston-region board of health during a regular meeting on Thursday.

Townend said the committee met on April 12 and began discussion examining the “continuity of governance oversight of the merger implementation,” including a series of recommendations that would be given to the new incoming board of health.

There is less than a year to go to the potential merger, which, if approved by the province, would take place on Jan. 2.

“With legal assistance, the committee will shortly be developing a draft memorandum of understanding between the three boards to establish a formal framework and a renewed mandate for the former tri-board merger committee and the new proposed Southeast Public Health Transitional Board,” Townend said.

Local board chair Wess Garrod said that, with new boards incoming to finalize the potential merger, the group wants as much as possible in place, including governance issues and regulatory items.

“(We want) a seamless transition in terms of the ability to operate as public health units, which we are currently doing now,” he said.