Grey Bruce Public Health is going to be reaching out to neighbouring health units to find out which may be interested in merging, should the province require such a move.
During the most recent Board of Health meeting, the board also decided to send a letter to the provincial Ministry of Health to find out if merging is mandatory, or suggested.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Grey Bruce had explored the option of merging with what was then the Huron County Public Health and Perth District Health Unit, but eventually, Huron and Perth merged instead.
The province had proposed legislation that would have reduced Ontario’s 35 public health units into 10 regional authorities.
The Ontario government is now looking to make further amalgamations happen and is offering transition funding to health boards that merge before April 1st of this year.
With a new deadline in place, Grey Bruce will be sending letters to neighbouring health units – Simcoe, Huron-Perth, and Wellington to gauge interest from each for a further amalgamation.
