Ottawa Public Health funding not keeping up with demand

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Ottawa’s board of health approved an $82.7-million budget this week that will allow Ottawa Public Health to offer its core services with the help of a one-time stabilization funding boost from the city and some money from reserves.

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But financial pressures continue, said Ottawa’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches. Among the pressures are ongoing difficulties keeping up with the growing demand for public health inspections as well as the “burden of infectious diseases.”

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Earlier this year OPH said it would need at least six additional public health inspectors to comply with current Ontario public health standards. OPH said it has been able to maintain its program by prioritizing risks. The need for inspections of restaurants, food processing operations and personal services, such as tattoo parlours, have been increasing and growing more complex in recent years.

“All of our programs are at the point that we are operating out of an area of extreme efficiency,” said Etches. “To think about future growth to meet growing public health needs is not possible.”

While OPH is not cutting any programs or services for next year, “all of our programs are affected due to lack of growth and revenue,” said Mohammad Kibria, who is manager of business development and support services at Ottawa Public Health.

He said public health has had to adopt “diverse strategies”, including a service review in 2023 and prioritizing areas that need more investment, such as public health inspections, because of chronic underfunding which has not kept up with inflation, population growth or demand, Kibria said.

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OPH is working on a long-term financial stability plan, said Kibria.

Board member Rawlson King, who is city councillor for Rideau Rockcliffe ward, said Ottawa Public Health needs stable provincial funding that keeps up with inflation and demand.

“We know that only 6.2 full-time equivalency positions have been added over 14 years, despite the significant population growth in Ottawa. Despite the fact that we are not seeing the necessary investments from the province, it is really a testament to the dexterity of the staff at OPH and the work that they are putting in to ensure that there is still a sufficient amount of service delivery despite the underfunding.”

King supported the budget but said the board should continue to advocate for more dollars from the province, something health board and OPH officials are doing.

The Ontario government is reviewing the way it funds public health. On Monday, it introduced legislation that, among other things, allows the voluntary amalgamation of nine public health units into four organizations. Three Eastern Ontario public health units — Hastings & Prince Edward Counties Health Unit, the Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Health Unit and the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit would become the South East Health Unit — under the plan.

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Etches also said she was confident that OPH would be able to respond to any unexpected public health emergencies, with the support of the city and the provincial government. Many public health officials around the globe are eyeing the increase in cases of avian influenza, in animals, domestic and wild and in people, with growing concern as a potential pandemic.

Etches continued to encourage anyone six months and older to get COVID-19 and flu vaccines ahead of the holidays. Vaccines are available at pharmacies and from physicians and nurse-practitioners, but OPH also offers them for children under five and people who have difficulty accessing them.

She said overdose prevention and response will continue to be a priority for OPH into 2025, especially with the announced closure of the Somerset West Community Health Centre’s consumption and treatment site in March.

“The community is very concerned about the area near the treatment services that will remain open and is concerned about what will happen to the people who use the current Somerset West consumption treatment site now. “

Community health partners and OPH are working to provide “immediate, short-term supports to mitigate the potential impact resulting from the closure, while we know we need longer-term solutions as well,” she said.

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