Health board officials are examining the possibility of merging public health units in Chatham-Kent and Sarnia-Lambton.
The boards of health for Chatham-Kent Public Health (CKPH) and Lambton Public Health (LPH) said they intend to explore the opportunities and impacts that a voluntary merger would have on their respective communities.
CKPH Board of Health Chair and CK Councillor Brock McGregor said while the discussions are in their infancy, the priority for both boards is to maintain and improve the public health services local communities rely on.
“We’re very much in the early days in looking at going through this process,” he said. “It feels natural to explore some opportunities with Lambton [Public Health], we have existing partnerships, a shared school board, [and] we both neighbour the First Nations community of Walpole Island.”
Discussions around a possible merger were prompted by the Ontario Ministry of Health, which has announced that it will provide one-time funding, resources, and support to local public health agencies that choose to merge voluntarily. To qualify for the funding, the mergers would need to be implemented by January 1, 2025.
It is not known at this time whether or not the merger will require any form of approval from municipal governments.
“From a government perspective, I’m not sure. It’s obviously something that we’d want to have discussions with and keep councils that will be affected updated,” said McGregor. “Likely we’ll have some more information about those types of specifics as decisions come forward and as we get some more information.”
How a possible merger would affect personnel at both health units, including the existing medical officers of health, is not known. However, both health units are expected to provide additional updates as they examine the potential merger.
