By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Dr. Thomas Piggott, Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Officer, was joined by Director of People and Communications Matt Vrooman to introduce the new Lakelands Public Health to Northumberland County council at Wednesday’s meeting.
Along with Northumberland County (which is represented on the board by county councillors Olena Hankivsky and John Logel), the health unit represents Haliburton County, Peterborough County, the City of Kawartha Lakes, the City of Peterborough and Alderville, Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations.
The combined population of these areas is 336,000 people.
The new logo symbolizes these eight areas with a circular symbol that represents all eight regions, Vrooman said, with a graphic that shows a rising sun with its reflection in the water – “to convey optimism and well-being.” It was created in consultation with the Indigenous partners, who are now also represented by the Indigenous Health Advisory Circle.
Dr. Piggott said the change is “more than just colours on a paper or a new name.”
The merger was a response to the province’s hints that doing this voluntarily would be wise. Otherwise, Lakelands would have had to take in Durham as well. They are meeting provincial milestones with the merger, finding efficiencies and working on program harmonization.
Dr. Piggott took a few moments to discuss social determinants of health with the case of a baby born to a woman whose rent exceeds her income. This baby is apt to experience significant risks growing up from increased likelihood of violence and exposure to harmful substances and mental illness. He or she will be five or six times more likely to have to go to a hospital.
The cost of housing for one year is equal to the cost of one hospital admission.
Dr. Piggott outlined ways public health is addressing these issues, from the Nurse Family Partnership to help first-time mothers to substance-abuse-prevention programming in schools.
Asked to outline why public health is so important, he added, “it can be difficult to see a lot of the work if we are successful in doing if you don’t see the consequences of getting sick at the restaurant because we didn’t inspect that.”
In Alberta, on the other hand, where these inspections aren’t getting done, food-bourne illnesses are resulting in outbreaks at day-care centres.
In the 2026 budget, total expenditures are increasing by 3.7%, though Northumberland’s share will go up by 5% for a total contribution of $3,010,774. This works out to $33.70 per capita which, over the next five years, will remain at 5% but only rise to $41 per capita. Northumberland Treasurer Matthew Nitsch estimated that this year’s increase works out to a 0.1% increase in taxation.
“In the world of having to deal with provincial downloads, it’s just another burden the county has to undertake to ensure good public health across the region,” Warden Brian Ostrander commented.
Even so, Dr. Piggott said, “what we see is a fraction of the services we were able to deliver a decade ago due to budget constraints.”
For example, over the past 10 years, inflation has gone up 28% while funding has gone up 6%.
For more information, visit wwwLakelandPH.ca or call 1-844-575-4567
