A merger could be on the horizon for our local Health Unit.
In a release, the county announced that the Boards of Health for the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit and Brant County Health Unit have reached a decision to pursue the next step by signing a letter of intent to merge.
The Ministry of Health, back in August, announced they were offering one-time funding, resources, and support for local public health agency mergers by January 1 of 2025.
At that time the HNHU, BCHU, as well as Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) began exploring potential alignments and options.
The release said that throughout the process both health units identified several key benefits that would be advantageous in a merged organization including an opportunity to enhance public health capacity, improved service delivery, and a shared network of community-based partners ranging from school boards to children’s services providers.
As a next step, the two health units will submit a jointly prepared business proposal to the Ministry of Health no later than May 31 for approval to proceed.
Following this submission, the Ministry of Health will review the proposal and provide guidance on the proposed merger.
Until then, both health units will continue to operate independently.
Written by Matt LeBlanc