WHEREAS Ottawa Public Health’s (OPH) 2023 Draft Operating Budget reflects a tax base and growth increase from the City that is aligned with City Council’s Budget Direction for 2023 and it assumes a 0% provincial base increase from the Province;
AND WHEREAS, year over year, the City of Ottawa has consistently provided for annual inflationary / growth increases of 2.5% to 3% to OPH’s operating budget while base budget increases from the provincial government have not been as consistent or reliable, leading to the budget being developed based on assumptions, which creates uncertainty;
AND WHEREAS in 2019, the Province announced a change in the provincial / municipal funding model for local public health units from up to 75% provincial and 25% municipal to up to 70% provincial and 30% municipal, with temporary mitigation funding to offset this increased pressure on municipalities through the last few years;
AND WHEREAS, to-date, neither OPH nor the City of Ottawa has received assurances from the Province that the mitigation funding will be increased from the 2018 level or continue beyond 2023, which represents a $3M pressure to the municipality if the Province ceases to provide the mitigation funding and does not revert to the previous 75/25 funding formula;
AND WHEREAS, in addition to providing for annual inflationary increases, the City of Ottawa provides in-kind supports to OPH for a wide range of administrative functions such as facility management, human resources and labour relations management, information technology, legal services, financial services and more, with an estimated value of $9.9M annually;
AND WHEREAS, just as hospitals have backlogs for surgical and other procedures, local public health units have catch-up work to do in areas such as dental screening and treatment, immunization, tuberculosis control, chronic disease and injury prevention initiatives and more;
AND WHEREAS the burden of infectious diseases continues at high levels with COVID-19 and other infections and base funding needs in this area are likely higher than they were pre-pandemic;
AND WHEREAS OPH also needs to account for population grown, inflation and increased demand for digital solutions;
AND WHEREAS, up to and including 2022, the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services’ budget allocation for OPH’s Healthy Babies Healthy Children (HBHC) program was $4.5 million, representing a zero percent increase since 2008, resulting in offering services to families based on their level of risk;
AND WHEREAS further requirements associated with HBHC screening and liaisons were added in 2013 and liaison work continues with four Ottawa hospital birth units;
AND WHEREAS, due to a lack of primary care providers who are able to accept newborns in Ottawa, OPH has seen an increased demand for home visits and drop-in clinics from parents and their young children, resulting in OPH being unable to meet the demand within its existing funding allocation, even for families at the highest levels of risk;
AND WHEREAS local public health units provide programs and services that promote well-being, prevent disease and injury, and protect population health, resulting in a healthier population, which conserves costly and increasingly scarce health care resources;
AND WHEREAS, to continue to plan for and provide the programs, services and supports residents need the most where they most need them, local public health units need sustainability and certainty from their funding partners;
AND WHEREAS investments in public health generate significant returns, including better health, lower health care costs, lower social services costs and a stronger economy;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Health for the City of Ottawa Health Unit direct Councillor Catherine Kitts, Chair of the Board of Health, to write to the Premier of Ontario, the Ontario Minister of Health, and the Ontario Minister of Finance to request that the Province:
- Revert to the 75/25 funding formula for local public health units;
- Commit to maintaining the current relationship between Ottawa Public Health and the City of Ottawa, recognizing the significant in-kind contribution the City makes to OPH, and building this into the cost-shared budget to ensure that, working together, OPH and the City of Ottawa can continue to meet residents needs when and where they are most needed; and
- Commit to providing some defined level of inflationary increase to local public health units’ annual base funding allocation going forward to ensure ongoing sustainability and reliable services to a growing population, as requested in the Association of Local Public Health Agencies’ (alPHa) 2023 Pre-Budget submission dated February 14, 2023;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Health for the City of Ottawa Health Unit direct Councillor Catherine Kitts, Chair of the Board of Health, to write to the Premier of Ontario, the Ontario Minister of Children, Community and Social Services and the Ontario Minister of Finance to request that the Province:
- Provide a one-time increase in the funding allocation for OPH’s Healthy Babies Healthy Children (HBHC) program to reflect the growing needs for these services and the fact that this funding has not increased since 2008; and
- Commit to providing some defined level of inflationary increase for this program’s annual funding allocation going forward to ensure ongoing sustainability and reliability;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Health for the City of Ottawa Health Unit forward this motion to City Council in conjunction with Council’s consideration of the 2023 Draft Operating Budget for the Ottawa Board of Health and request that Council endorse the recommendations contained herein and further request that Mayor Mark Sutcliffe co-sign the above-referenced letters to the Province, demonstrating the City of Ottawa’s support for these requests.