Overtime costs piling up for Ottawa Public Health

Ottawa's public health unit could be millions of dollars in the red by the end of the year, despite an influx of cash from the Ontario government, raising questions about how public health agencies should be funded.

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) is running a deficit of $280,000 due to COVID-19-related costs,according to figures for the first quarter of 2020 released by the City of Ottawa.

Most of the extra costs come down to overtime hours worked because of the pandemic, said Coun. Keith Egli, who chairs theOttawa Board of Health.

If the pandemic stretches on for many more months, Egli said thatcould mean OPH finishes the year with a much larger deficit possibly in the millions of dollars.

"We're about halfway through the year. Ifwe continue to trend downwards in the number of cases, then we're likely going to be spending less money," Egli said.

"[But] if in the fallwe get a spike... then we're going to see more money being spent."

$100M influx

The provincial government has promised $100 million for health units to cover those sorts of extraordinary costs, which Egli said will help, but may not be enough if the pandemic stretches into 2021.

"Then it becomes a discussion about whether or not there should be a greater initial ask in the budget over and above what we would normally ask for, to take care of, you know, an average year in Ottawa," he said.

"It'stough to say whether $100 million is going to be enough. It's certainly a significant amount of money."

According to the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA), health units normally receive anywhere from five to eight per cent of the province's overall health budget, depending on the region.

Ian Culbert, the CPHA'sexecutive director, doesn't consider that amount enough to help agencies tackle extreme events like the pandemic.

As a result, he believesmunicipalitieshave to be better prepared.

"We need to be setting money aside on a regular basis to cover off these catastrophic events. Because they will happen, and they will probably start happening on a more frequent basis," Culbert said.

The Fordgovernment had been discussing cuts to Ontario's public health network in the fall of 2019, before the pandemic hit.

Both Culbert and Egli say the province should consider what'shappened during the COVID-19 pandemic when making any future decisions about funding.