Oxford County Public Health Set to Merge with Elgin St. Thomas

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Friday, 10 November 2017 11:55

Oxford County Board of Public Health has announced their intention to merge health units with the Elgin St. Thomas Board of Health.

Oxford County Board of Health and the Elgin St. Thomas Board of Health have announced their intent to merge.

The announcment was made today and the boards plan on mergin their health units into a single unit that will serve the communities of Oxford, Elgin and St. Thomas.

A letter of intent was signed by Oxford County Warden David Mayberry on Wednesday and Elgin St. Thomas Board of Health Chair Bernie Wiehle signed a letter of intent on Thursday.

Now that the letter of intent has been signed by both health units, a formal request to the Minister of Health & Long-Term Care seeking approval to merge will be submitted. The health units will then seek the legislative and regulatory changes required so that the merger can proceed.

Warden Mayberry says the merger makes sense for Oxford County.

"Oxford County and Elgin St. Thomas share a viewpoint that a local solution offering equitable representation from across our municipalities best serves the interests of our communities. Through this merger, our residents will continue to have significant voice through their elected and citizen appointments, and will continue to receive public health services from the people they have come to know and who know them."

Wiehle echoes those remarks and is very confident the two entities will be able to work together to make a smooth transition.

"Elgin St. Thomas and Oxford County health units have a long, rich history of working jointly together, sharing similar characteristics across the people they serve, as well as sharing the same LHIN (Local Health Integration Network) and school boards. Each of our communities has unique needs, separate from each other, and those needs will continue to be met. We’re confident the model we are putting forward will ensure a strong, vibrant, and efficient public health agency for now and for the future."

Merger at a glance:

- The merger would see a single public health unit serving the communities of Oxford, Elgin and St. Thomas. A name for the new health unit will be announced at a later date.

- The merger is planned for the spring of 2018. A detailed implementation plan to fully merge the two organizations would continue over 2018 and 2019.

- Governance for the new health unit will be provided through a transitional board appointed in spring 2018, followed by the appointment of an autonomous board of health with citizen and municipal representation in the fall of 2018.

- One Medical Officer of Health and one Chief Executive Officer will serve the jurisdiction, which encompasses 90,000 Elgin St. Thomas residents and 114,000 Oxford County residents.

- Current offices in St. Thomas and Woodstock will be maintained.

- Oxford County Paramedic Services, currently a part of Oxford County’s Department of Public Health & Emergency Services, will remain an Oxford County municipal service.

- The merger goals are consistent with numerous provincial reports suggesting the need to reduce the number of health units, increase capacity at local health units, and govern with skills-based boards.