Coun. Kitts wants to see discussion on base funding increase for public health

While the City of Ottawa's draft budget is expected to be presented on Wednesday, Feb. 1, Ottawa Board of Health members will be discussing their budget on Monday, Jan. 30. 

The board's chair, Catherine Kitts, who also serves as the city councillor for Orléans South-Navan, told Wake Up With Rob Snow on Jan. 25 that there needs to be some discussion for base funding increased for Ottawa Public Health (OPH). 

“We are really starting to turn our attention to delivering the same level of services now that we have done more in the last couple of years, but anticipating that we will have less budget money,” said Coun. Kitts. 

She's expecting that provincial funding for COVID-19 related initiatives to dry up this year, so public health will need to start leveraging technology that have proved  successful during the pandemic, including increased community outreach. 

She said it's about delivering the same amount of services with less funding, and while COVID-19 top ups are winding down. Coun. Kitts added there still needs to be work done in the communities and funding from the province. 

“Ottawa Public Health did a lot of work in neighbourhoods, responding to needs in communities and we don't want to see that work done,” she said. “So it's a matter of how we convince the province to increase the base funding.”

Listen to the full interview with Coun. Catherine Kitts below: