Public health officials from the Northwestern Health Unit have voiced their concerns with the province.
The health unit met with the minister of health at an annual conference for Ontario municipalities.
Marilyn Herbacz, the CEO of the Northwestern Health unit, says they talked about how the immunization model helps support local health care.
She says she mentioned that the northwestern part of the province has hugely different health care needs than other areas.
They also presented a viability study on merging with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit.
Although the boards for the two health units voted against voluntarily merging in April, they conduct a joint study from November 2023 to March 2024.
It suggests that the Northwestern Division covers such a large geography that the cost benefits of merging were not enough to outweigh the benefit of their service model.
Decentralized health care helps keep patients and care providers engaged with each other, said Herbacz.
Herbacz hopes the conversations at the conference will lead to better health service for the region, and prevent any future legislation that would mandate a merger.
