Health units agree to pursue merger
Move would see province consider business case before any approval is granted
After several months of consideration and consultation, Peterborough Public Health (PPH) and the Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge (HKPR) District Health Unit have agreed to pursue a merger of the two entities.
“Beyond strength in numbers, the benefits of a merger that have been identified include improved program expertise, specialist positions, cross coverage of staff and succession planning, and improved depth and strength of central corporate service functions,” PPH board chair Joy Lachica said Wednesday, during a joint news conference held to announce the decision.
“Despite the financial challenge in an underfunded public health context in Ontario, the goal of our collaboration is to better serve the public and to continue to be good stewards of the financial resources entrusted to us.”
She said on the financial side, the boards of health have carefully assessed current provincial funding scenarios for public health and concluded that a merger is the best way forward.
The move toward the merger follows public meetings held by each of their boards of health over the past two weeks that included ministry officials and the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore.
In August of 2023, the province announced that beginning in 2024, it would restore $47 million in provincial annual base funding for public health units, which is the level previously provided under the 75/25 per cent provincial/municipal cost-share ratio.
It vowed to also provide local public health units an annual one per cent funding increase over the next three years so they can more effectively plan ahead and prepare. This was to allow time for the province to collaborate with municipalities
“Despite the financial challenge in an underfunded public health context in Ontario, the goal of our collaboration is to better serve the public.
JOY LACHICA PETERBOROUGH PUBLIC HEALTH BOARD CHAIR
on a longer-term sustainable funding agreement that will not put any additional financial burden on municipalities.
One-time funding, resources, and supports is being offered by the province to local public health agencies that voluntarily merge to streamline and reinvest back into expanding programs and services.
In November, a joint board merger exploration working group was established with representatives from both health units and external consulting firm Sense and Nous to prepare a comprehensive feasibility assessment report.
Throughout this process, it was quickly identified that both the HKPR District Health Unit and PPH have an extensive history of collaboration and share similar geographic, demographic, health status and population characteristics.
Both organizations are also dedicated to reducing health inequities and addressing the most pressing public health challenges faced by the urban, rural, and Indigenous communities they serve.
“We have been diligent in the time frame provided to review and consider all possible outcomes and impacts of a voluntary merger,” said David Marshall, chair for HKPR District Health Unit’s board.
He said by merging with Peterborough Public Health, the combined new organization can strengthen its capacity to deliver “exceptional public health programs and services” and better respond to the unique needs of the area’s small urban and rural communities.
Currently, there are about 300 total part-time and full-time staff working at the two health units — about 170 with the HKPR and about 130 with PPH — and HKPR Medical Officer of Health Dr. Natalie Bocking said the goal is maintain the combined public health workforce once the merger is complete.
“The intent is not to reduce the workforce size in public health,” Bocking said. “We understand it’s a challenging fiscal environment right now … and that a one per cent increase from the province to our base budgets does not keep pace with inflationary pressures and commitments we have with our, for example, our bargaining units. So, we will need to plan based on the current fiscal environment, but the intent of this and the opportunity that it provides is to be able to maintain and ideally strengthen our workforce.”
Lachicha said that over the past several months, the two health units have carefully examined how a merger can strengthen the services provided to the region, and that process revealed that joining together offers the best pathway possible to protect and promote public health and keep area residents healthy.
The two boards will now submit a joint voluntary merger application to the Ontario government by April 2, showing how a proposed merger would benefit the communities they serve while supporting outcomes and priorities identified for public health by the Ministry of Health.
That plan should help outline what physical presence a new combined health unit would have over the four-county area, and how the leadership team will look going forward. Both Bocking and PPH Medical Officer of Health Dr. Thomas Piggott said they enjoy working together and both have invested interests personally and professionally in the regions where they live.
Mergers of public health units require provincial legislative change, so any merger would not be definitive until the province granted approval and commits adequate funding for its success later in the year.
Both health units will continue to operate independently during the provincial review period.