Local health units are considering a potential merger.
A majority of Algoma Public Health board members voted Wednesday to seek provincial funding to study the feasibility of a voluntary merger with the neighbouring Public Health Sudbury and Districts, just shy of a week after PHSD's board voted to approach APH about exploring the feasibility of a merger.
Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Matthew Shoemaker - who sits on APH's board - raised objections to the idea, saying he's "struggling to support" it, noting concerns about representation with a merged agency as well as a commitment to not reduce staff.
The two units have worked together before, even temporarily sharing Dr. Penny Sutcliffe as Medical Officer of Health after the resignation of APH's amid scandal in January 2015 - PHSD (whose coverage area includes Chapleau) is also in the midst of searching for a new Medical Officer of Health and CEO as Dr. Sutcliffe's set to retire soon.
APH's board had discussed in September provincial government pressure for health units to merge, as the province has offered funding for units who "voluntarily" merge - the PC government had also planned in 2019 to merge the province's dozens of health units into ten, with a single one for northeastern Ontario, claiming larger agencies would mean cost savings and lead to improved public health services, though that plan fell apart amid the COVID-19 pandemic - still, its release in August announcing the funding for voluntary mergers had claimed such moves would "reduce overlap of services and focus resources on improving people's access to programs and services close to home".
The neighbouring Porcupine and Timiskaming health units announced after that announcement that they were looking into a merger, something they had previously explored.