The Medical Officer of Health for Perth County says there are more questions than answers around the funding cuts and restructuring for health units following the provincial budget announcement.
Dr. Miriam Klassen said it's clear the government intends to reduce the current 35 health units in the province to 10. But she said there's no information on how that will be accomplished.
"The government's intention, it would seem, is to have only ten boards, so Huron-Perth would be a very small region to continue to have its own board, so from what I can see, from what they're intending, we would somehow be part of a larger health unit or health agency," said Klassen.
Klassen added the Huron and Perth health units are mandated to amalgamate by January of 2020, but she's not sure how the reduction from 35 to 10 health units will impact that amalgamation. It could result in a very complex agency that covers a huge geographical area.
"Then this $200 million reduction from a $750 million budget. It's not clear to me if this includes Public Health Ontario or other ministry supports, staff, or whether it's all coming from the health units," she said.
Klassen said they have reached out to the ministry for more information but so far haven't received that information.