Pandemic needs more attention, health exec says
It's as though COVID-19 never happened, association boss says of Ontario election
Until NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and Green Leader Mike Schriener tested positive for COVID-19 this week, there had been little focus on the pandemic and public health on the Ontario election campaign trail.
That is something that both surprises and concerns John Atkinson, executive director of the Ontario Public Health Association.
More than two years into a pandemic that has put an unprecedented strain on the province's public-health system on the heels of deep cuts to public health, Atkinson said he expected to hear parties talking about the need to strengthen and preserve public health in the province during the campaign. But that has not been the case.
“None of that is really being talked about,” he said. “It is almost like there is no COVID-19 pandemic happening.”
The association that represents public health and community health professionals says the fact that Ontario's strained public-health system has not been a priority during the election campaign puts it and the health of Ontario residents at risk.
“All political parties should be talking about the future of public health right now. After two years of an intense COVID -19 response, we find ourselves at a crucial juncture for public health,” Atkinson said.
The public-health system has put other programs on hold or slowed them during the pandemic and is now facing a serious backlog, he said, and is in need of strengthened funding to deal with that backlog and existing and new challenges.
Among other things, the association is calling on political parties to commit to strengthened and sustained public-health and community-health funding, and to commit to autonomy for public health.
What concerns Atkinson and the organization is that the previous Progressive Conservative government had been planning changes to public health in Ontario that would cut provincial funding and reduce local autonomy while shifting more costs onto municipalities.
Those plans were put on hold when the pandemic hit, but both the public health association and municipalities worry that they could be revived.
“Our sincere hope is that we are not talking about vast cuts or restructuring, rather learning from the pandemic,” Atkinson said.
Public-health funding was cut by more than $49 million in 2019 and 2020, according to the province's Financial Accountability Office.
The Progressive Conservative government's so-called “modernization plan,” which would consolidate 35 public health units into 10, would result in annual savings of $200 million, Atkinson said.
The effect of that plan would have been catastrophic, said Kevin Churchill, vice-chair of the OPHA board.
That plan has not gone ahead, but Atkinson fears it will if more attention is not paid to both the need for stronger public health in wake of the pandemic and the system's current vulnerability.
Crucially, he said, the province will not be prepared for the next pandemic if it doesn't strengthen the public-health system.