Two northern health units plan to merge

Following an announcement from the province about funding availability last week, the boards for the Porcupine Health Unit (PHU) and the Timiskaming Health Unit (THU) said Wednesday they are moving towards merging.

In a joint statement, both health units announced they are taking steps towards a voluntary merger to strengthen public health in the communities they serve.

"The merger will strengthen local public health programs and services while increasing efficiencies," said Timiskaming’s acting medical officer of health Dr. Glenn Corneil in the release.

“Programs and services will continue as is in local health unit offices in both regions during the merger process.”

Board members told CTV News that the merger of PHU and THU has been discussed since the 1990s.

While several reports over many years have recommended a merger between our health units,” said Dr. Lianne Catton, CEO of the PHU and the area’s medical officer of health.

“Recent events including the COVID-19 pandemic have confirmed the benefits of a merger to increase staff capacity to deliver public health programming and to respond to surges and emergencies.”

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The organizations said they expect the merger to be finalized sometime in 2024.

“Throughout this process, including pending final government approval, the PHU and the THU will continue to engage with community partners and municipalities to maintain our strong local connections,” the statement released Wednesday reads.

“I think we’ll be able to live forward rather quickly and potentially see changes within the next year,” said Catton.

“In 2024, at some point but it really depends on a lot of variables as mentioned. The most important is obviously the ministry and the government’s approval as well.”

Geographically speaking, the PHU is the largest in the province and the THU unit is the smallest.

“Moving forward with a voluntary merger we’re not looking at cutting offices,” said Corneil.

“We’re not looking at cutting staff. We’re looking at expanding and making efficiencies.”

Corneil added he feels this option is a “win-win” and both sides are excited about what services they will be able to offer following the merger.