In an effort to find $2.16 million dollars in savings in 2024, the Middlesex-London Health Unit has announced an organizational restructuring that includes the loss of the equivalent of 13 full-time registered nursing positions.
The health unit is also losing the equivalent of two full-time registered dietitians, one-and-a-half full-time health promoter, one director and three managers.
“There will be significant reductions in comprehensive school health nursing, with a reduced in-person presence in elementary schools, and a consolidation of resources in secondary schools and school boards. Immunization and dental programming will continue,” says medical officer of health Dr. Alex Summers.
Disinvestments also include reducing “capacity to support local municipalities in healthy public policy development” and reduced social marketing work, particularly public awareness campaigns.
The restructuring will see minor investments in vaccine preventable disease and infectious disease control as well as “minor strengthening of presence with health sector partners, notably the Middlesex-London Ontario Health Team.”
At the same time, the health unit is adding what works out to three health promotion specialists, five program assistants and three associate managers. The health unit also offered voluntary retirement incentives and reduced already-vacant positions as well as transferring some staff to contract or temporary roles.
As a result, there will be “less than seven total lay-offs of front-line staff at the beginning of January,” the health unit said in a release.
“The budget pressures the MLHU is facing are considerable, and mean that we are no longer able to sustain our current or historic levels of service to the residents of London and Middlesex County,” Summers said. “These have been hard decisions to make, but despite these challenges, the Health Unit is committed to providing excellent and critical public health services to our community, now and in the years ahead.”
Negotiated salary increases and corporate inflation, staffing costs associated with ongoing COVID-19-related work and a need to reduce the organizational gapping budget are all listed as 2024 budget pressures.
The overall budget shortfall was $2.6 to $2.8 million, the health unit says, but a one per cent increase in funding from the province, a three per cent increase from municipalities and an increase in Infection Prevention and Control Hub funding in 2024 brought that down to $2.16 million.
Programs that are entirely funded from other sources (for example through the Public Health Agency of Canada, Public Health Ontario or the Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program) are not impacted.
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