Health unit seeks city, county funding after shortfall
Peterborough County staff are mulling how to come up with $15,712 requested Wednesday by Peterborough Public Health for cost-shared programs to match an unanticipated 2018 budget increase announced by the province in April.
Dr. Rosana Salvaterra made the ask during a delegation to Wednesday’s regular council before explaining public health budget challenges and the board of health’s proposed three-prong strategy to address them.
Councillors voted to receive her presentation and refer the funding request to finance director/treasurer Trena DeBruijn.
The health unit budget of $7,975,438 – with $2,059,538 from local governments – approved last November included a zero per cent increase from the province and local partners, which include the city and Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations.
Ministry approvals have been zero for the past two years, following respective increases of 3, 2.85, 1.62, 2, 2 and 7.34 per cent from 2010 to 2015, explained Salvaterra, who was accompanied by director of operations Larry Stinson.
The increase, which applies to all public health agencies, created a $338,564 shortfall in the health unit’s 2018 approved budget that would decrease to $184,031 if each local partner contributes the revised amount.
The rest of the shortfall would be made up through a combination of deferred revenue, reserve accounts and gapping, Salvaterra said.
The existing budget includes $856,953 from the county, $1,228,486 from the city, $9,614 from Curve Lake and $3,118 from Hiawatha.
The 2 per cent adjustment would mean an extra $22,531, $286 and $104 from the city, Curve Lake and Hiawatha, respectively.
Action is needed, Salvaterra urged. If the province provides zero per cent for the next three years and if there is no local increase, budget shortfalls would grow to $750,000 by 2021.
The three-prong strategy includes advocating for sustained and adequate provincial funding with support from local municipalities and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, judicious use of reserves and a move to 30 per cent local funding – away from the 75-25 ratio introduced in 2004.
Some councillors voiced concerns over that increase and Salvaterra agreed a better longterm solution is needed.
Coun. Mary Smith – an eightyear veteran of the board of health – emphasized that the reality is the board sets the budget in the fall and doesn’t find out how much the province is actually funding until months later.
“It’s the most odd and unusual budgeting process I’ve ever experienced,” she said.
Coun. Ron Gerrow suggested “revolutionary changes are on the horizon” if the incoming Conservative government removes local healthcare integration networks (LHINs), as promised during the election campaign.
“We better be prepared … to come up with new ideas and new ways,” he said, asking the board to look hard at the services it provides. “Some of these things aren’t sustainable, I don’t think, moving forward.”
Salvaterra promised that is already happening, pointing out how a travel clinic no longer mandated by the province has become a pilot project, to determine if it can be sustained using cost-recovery options. If it fails, it will be cut, she said.
Coun. Terry Low urged the health unit to stop playing nice and to get “ugly” with the province to ensure that its voice is heard. “People just can’t afford what is coming down the pipe.”