By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
The planned merger of the Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit with Peterborough Public Health may not happen on Jan. 1 after all, Northumberland County council’s Community Health Committee heard Tuesday.
HKPR Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Natalie Bocking told the group that a business plan for the merger was submitted to the province in April but – pending receipt of certain funding and other approvals by the province – cannot proceed. And there’s no word forthcoming from the province at this time.
The news was part of Dr. Bocking’s report on public health services in Northumberland County, the most populous of the three municipalities they cover. The population of this region is about 188,000, and they are served by some 176 staff (a mix of full-time, part-time, casual and contract) providing programs tailored to meet local needs through the lens of health equity, often working in partnership with many organizations.
Dr. Bocking shared 2023 statistics for Northumberland alone – 2,634 students screened for dental decay, 54 school-based and 22 office-based immunization clinics offered, 447 Healthy Baby Health Children home visits, 51 sexual-health clinics, 6,900 sterile needles and 1,924 Naloxone kits distributed, and 1,286 cases of infectious diseases of public health significance.
Public-health issues in the spotlight include emergency preparedness, the drug poisoning crisis, new and re-emerging infectious diseases, impacts from climate change (such as extreme heat events) and early childhood development (including preventing adverse childhood experiences.
Examples of such experiences include exploitative trauma, lack of access to health care, and the presence of mental-health or addiction issues in the home.
These early years are when children’s brains are being wired, she said.
“The more of these events, especially, in the early years, the higher the risk they will develop mental-health issues or addiction issues later,” Dr. Bocking said.
