Two health units serving the Peterborough area in central Ontario are exploring the impacts that a voluntary merger would have on their respective communities.
The boards of health for Peterborough Public Health (PPH) and the Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit (HKPR) announced Thursday they will conduct an assessment of whether a voluntary merger would be beneficial.
In late August, Ontario’s Ministry of Health announced plans to strengthen the public health sector by offering one-time transition funding and access to three-year merger support for public health agencies that decide to voluntarily merge. The mergers would need to be implemented by Jan. 1, 2025.
PPH currently serves Peterborough, Peterborough County, Hiawatha First Nation and Curve Lake First Nation. HKPR serves residents in the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County and Haliburton County.
Both health units note that in 2019, they explored opportunities for some shared service delivery following the province’s initial efforts to reduce the number of public health agencies from 35 to 10.
An initial proposal in 2019 suggested a large regional health unit featuring a merger between PPH, HKPR, the Hastings Prince Edward Health Unit and the Durham Region Health Department.
However, the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 put the province’s reduction plans on hold.
Board of Health chairpersons David Marshall with the HKPR and Kathryn Wilson with PPH say a pre-assessment study of a potential merger will be conducted over the next few months. The study will help the boards understand how the current proposal would affect the delivery of programming and emergency response capacity.
“Public health’s primary reason for being is to improve the overall standard of health in the community being served,” stated Marshall. “Doing so goes a long way to relieve the tremendous strain currently being borne by our downstream health sector and those people working within it. If there is a way to strengthen our ability to improve these health standards it is our responsibility to investigate it.
Added Wilson: “Our ultimate goal is to protect and promote health in the communities we serve, while ensuring a strong voice in public health for Municipalities and First Nations. If a voluntary merger offers a chance to strengthen public health and resolve some of the long-standing capacity challenges facing the sector, then it is an opportunity worth exploring.”
Following the study, a decision on whether to proceed with a voluntary merger will be made in early 2024. Both health units will continue to operate independently during the pre-assessment period.
A similar merger is already being reviewed east of the two health units between public health units serving Trent to Cornwall and north to Smith Falls.
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