SUDBURY-SAULT STE. MARIE—There will be no merger of the board of health for Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) and the Algoma Public Health (APH) board. While the board in Sudbury voted in favour of the merger, the APH board in Sault St. Marie voted down the proposal.
Both health unit boards voted on the proposal at separate meetings held on Tuesday, February 20. At its meeting, the Sudbury board of health voted unanimously in favour of the merger, specifically developing a joint business case to propose to the minister of health on a merger of the two public health agencies.
However, APH board voted in opposition. “Today’s (PHSD) deliberations were in response to the ministry of health’s August 2023 announcement encouraging voluntary mergers and providing merger support funding for public health units,” said Rene Lapierre, chair of the PHSD board of health. “On behalf of board members, I would like to extend our gratitude for the thoughtful and extensive work by both boards of health, the medical officers of health, and staff from both public health units over the last few months to gather the information necessary to make an informed decision.”
Mr. Lapierre told members of the media at a media scrum at the end of the PHSD board of health meeting, “The way the system works, a recommendation to the government has to be an agreement of the health units. We will submit to the government that we voted in favour of the merger. But that is where this will stop. Both boards had to agree to the merger to proceed to the next steps.”
Mr. Lapierre said, “My personal position on the data that was collected is that (the merger) could have been beneficial. But I understand the concerns of the APH board and respect each board’s decision.”
As for another health unit with which to merge, Mr. Lapierre said, “At this time, I cannot see this taking place. I don’t think there is enough for the board to be able to make that decision. He said discussions between the two boards began in November. The feasibility study gathered information and explored the merits and risks of a merger. It is too late to look for another health unit with which to merge.” He pointed out documentation and evidence have to be submitted to the province by the end of March. “It took 10 weeks for the sub-committee to work with the consultants to come up with the report on the merger.”
PHSD medical officer of health Dr. Penny Sutcliffe said the feasibility study that had been carried out had been targeted specifically to a merger with APH. She said, “this feasibility study provided a look at the benefits and risks of a merger with just Algoma.”
“Our health system is under considerable strain, and we know that it’s critical to invest in a strong public health system to keep us healthy, from kids to seniors and from oral health to safe drinking water. We have a longstanding and excellent relationship with (APH), from frontline staff to senior leadership and I know that both agencies remain committed to acting in the best interest of local communities to achieve the health equity that our areas deserve,” said Dr. Sutcliffe. “Today’s decisions mean that our existing relationship continues and we look forward to future collaborations in support of local public health.”
Dr. Sutcliffe said the merger was a very difficult decision for everyone involved to make. The data looked at the overall benefits and the overall risks involved. “I observed an increase in staff capacity with a larger catchment area and learning from each other to provide more capacity and even better overall service.”
Sally Hagman, chair of the APH board indicated “there were a number of reasons why we didn’t vote in favour of the merger. We focused on the district we serve and the residents we serve in the Algoma district. We have an extremely well-oiled machine, and in reaching our client base.”
“We enjoyed the time we discussed the proposed merger with PHSD. When looking at the composition of the board, we have 13 board members (APH) that would be decreased by 50 percent,” said Ms. Hagman. “And we wanted to know staff members in our unit would be remaining now and in the future, along with the 25 programs our health unit delivers.”
“There was also the funding situation,” Ms. Hagman told The Expositor. “It would potentially cost huge dollars to convert the two health units’ financial systems to one. In terms of provincial funding, unfortunately the 34 public health units in the province are all standalone finance systems in terms of funding (from the province). It would be hard to manage and basically (with a merger) we would have had to start all over from scratch.”
Ms. Hagman said the APH will communicate their decision to its stakeholders and staff that things will continue as they have.
When asked whether he thought the province would force a merger, Mr. Lapierre said, “Technically the government can pass this type of legislation, but as they indicated previously, they were requesting all public health merger talks being voluntary.”
