HPPH says a Provincial Funding Shortfall Will Affect Some of Their Programs and Services Next Year
by Bob Montgomery
Huron Perth Medical Officer of Health for Huron and Perth, Doctor Miriam Klassen held a news conference yesterday to announce they will be restructuring its programs and services effective 2024 to address a challenging budget shortfall.
Doctor Klassen explained that with the end of COVI19 funding, they're facing a 1.5 million dollar funding gap accumulated over the past five years. She says the province’s recently announced one per cent increase for public health units over the next 3 years is good news, but it won't cover the gap. Doctor Klassen says that's forced them to make some difficult decisions over the last year. She says they will be removing 13.5 positions from the HPPH organizational structure, which is an approximate 10% reduction in staffing levels. Some of those eliminations will occur through retirements but there will also be layoffs and ending of temporary staff. She says positions will be removed from several areas of the health unit, including management and those changes will impact the programs and services HPPH will be able to provide to the community.
Doctor Klassen also notes, they had to make the cuts that they made because public health units must balance their budget. They are not allowed to run a deficit. She says the staff reductions will begin with retirements in December of 2023 and the full implementation will take affect by mid-January of 2024. Doctor Klassen says the province has indicated a new funding approach will be implemented in 2026.
Doctor Klassen says a lot of the details still have to be worked out but they do anticipate reductions in things like health promotion, community development, population health surveillance and evaluation. She says more specific information will be announced as it becomes available. They'll be relying on their newly released 2024-2027 Strategic Plan to help determine how best to deliver programs and services in the years ahead. The plan is available for viewing at www.hpph.ca/reports.
