Public health units in Sudbury and Algoma to decide on merger next week

The boards of Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) and Algoma Public Health will vote on whether or not to proceed with the merger at their next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 20. 

Board members received the results of the feasibility study commissioned last December in closed session meetings on Thursday. 

If it goes through, the merger would create a new public health unit serving about 350,000 people spread over an area approximately 700 km long and 5,000 km wide. 

Ontario has had plans to combine some public health units into larger regional entities since 2019, but those were put in hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The province recently increased funding for public health units by one per cent annually to help them plan ahead and prepare for potential mergers. 

The goal, says the Ministry of Health, is to "reduce the overlap in services and focus resources on improving people's access to programs and services close to home."

Some local governments have expressed their opposition to a merger between public health units in Sudbury and Algoma since talks began. 

Sault Ste. Marie city council, for example, says a merger could create a one size fits all approach that wouldn't be suitable for the community. 

The Township of Wawa also opposes the merger. It passed a resolution earlier in February arguing that a "merged board would be unable to maintain all the regional representation" that currently exists in Algoma Public Health.

Service providers have also expressed their desire to have current service levels maintained if a merger goes through. 

Roxane Zuck is the CEO of Monarch Recovery Services, which serves men and women struggling with drug or alcohol addictions in Sudbury and Manitoulin.

She says PHSD currently provides several services to the organization, including regular health inspections and health promotion with clients.