Peterborough Public Health (PPH) and Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge (HKPR) District Health Unit will be merging by January 1, 2025. PPH and HKPR  identified an extensive history of collaboration and shared geographic, demographic, health status and population characteristics. Both organizations are similarly united in the commitment to reduce health inequities and address the most pressing public health challenges faced by the communities they serve.

In August 2023, the Ministry of Health announced plans to strengthen the public health sector by offering one-time funding, resources and supports to local public health agencies that decide to voluntarily merge by January 1, 2025. In response to this announcement, the Boards of Health for HKPR District Health Unit and PPH decided to move forward with a process to explore the impacts of a voluntary merger. In November 2023, a PPH/HKPR Joint Board Merger Exploration Working Group was established with representatives from both health units to work with an external consulting firm Sense & Nous, who was tasked with preparing a comprehensive Feasibility Assessment Report. These findings were recently presented to both Boards of Health for consideration to help make an informed decision.

Merging the respective health units offers a critical opportunity to strengthen public health capacity, expand upon the successful record of collaboration, and work together to keep all communities healthy. Merging is also a means of optimizing public health resources and ensuring that there are the resources and staffing to address future public health emergencies and surges in demand.

Next Steps: The HKPR District Health Unit and PPH Boards of Health will submit a joint voluntary merger application to the Ontario Government by April 2nd that demonstrates how a proposed merger would benefit the communities they serve, while supporting outcomes and priorities identified for public health by the Ministry of Health. Mergers of public health units require provincial legislative change, and as such this will not be definitive until the province has approved this and commits adequate funding for its success later in the year. Both PPH and HKPR District Health Unit will continue to operate independently during the provincial review period.

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