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www.insidehalton.com |OAKVILLE BEAVER |Thursday, December 21, 2017 |30 Health Halton Health sees provincial funding shortfall of $10.2M by Kathryn Boyle Metroland Media West "Connected to your Community F O R " A T L A S A C C L A I M W ith budget-related topics headed to region comm ittees earlier this m onth, many items are seeing increases and decreases in 2018. The 2 0 1 8 budget is to rise by 1.9 per cent and a $ 4 .8 million increase in the levy. On Dec. 5, Halton Acting Commissioner of Health M att Ruf shed some light to the health and social services comm ittee on funding for the health department, and shared with council the department will reach a shortfall of $ 1 0 .2 million in 2 0 1 8 . According to Ruf, the department has been trying to address the funding pressures com ing from the subsidies in the Ministry of Health. Ruf said in 2 0 1 7 , public health received a zero per cent funding increase for its mandatory programs set by the province. For 2 0 1 8 , the region has been notified it will again receive no increases. The anticipated shortfall for public health has totalled more than $8.1 million. The North Halton Mental Health clinic will receive no increase in funding, therefore a $ 8 3 3 ,0 0 0 shortfall is expected in 2018. In total, health department programs have seen a significant increase in the shortfall of funding, at $ 1 0 .2 million. Commissioner of Finance and Regional Treasurer Mark Scinocca also presented to committee. He touched on some of the same topics he discussed during the council information session on Nov. 15, but dived a little further into what some of the numbers mean. According to Scinocca, provincial subsidies are increasing by 9 .8 per cent, or $ 1 5 .6 million. "W e've had some significant increases, but this is quite a bit this year," he said. One of the big items on the docket was public health, which included public health resources increasing by 3 .2 per cent, health environments and communicable disease increasing by 2 .6 per cent, healthy families, decreasing by 0 .7 per cent, and clinical health families increasing by 5.8 per cent. A $ 1 5 0 ,0 0 0 provincially-funded program will give first-aid responders naloxone kits to fight opioid overdoses. The paramedics portion of the budget is increasing by almost $ 1 .5 million to make way for 12 new full-time employees and to make room for relief hours, an item that has not appeared on the budget previously. Relief hours are classified as regional paramedics who are readily-available to w ork when current full-time staff are not, due to training, sickness or vacation. "W e've been running unfavourable variances related to personal com pensation," Scinocca explained. "A lot of it has to do with budgeting for the appropriate level of relief hours." Ruf reminded the comm ittee that regional council approved the paramedic 10-year master plan in 2 0 1 5 , and the planning outlined in the docum ent features expected growth in paramedic stations. There are two stations that will be focused on next year, one in east Milton at Fifth Line and Derry Road and one in southwest Oakville at Rebecca Street. An additional station in Milton will be looking at design in 2 0 1 8 . Ruf said emergency and non-emergency calls have risen by 55 per cent since last year, and they are expected to continue to rise next year. Atlas Van Lines (clockwise from bottom Jackie McCulloch, Charan Sahmbi, Emma Wood, Kamar Abdur-Rashid, and Oleana Kobko, deliver gifts Dec. 13 that were donated by their social committee members and Halton Shoebox Project Co-ordinator Heather Flemington delivers shoeboxes for Acclaim Health's Community Support Services represented by Patricia Blakely (far right). | Nikki Wesley/Metroland Get on the "GOOD" List with a SECRET FACES Gift Certificate 2417 MARINE DRIVE, OAKVILLE 289-837-1212 www.secretfaces.com hello@secretfaces.com Voted Oakville's DRUG M ART C o m e a n d g e t y o u r flu s h o t to d a y · · · · · Patient Counselling Complete Diabetic Care Home Visits Consultations Free RX Delivery Fabio De Rango Pharmacist/Owner Favourite Pharmacist & Pharmacy ecret faces J S la DE RANGO PHARMACY INC DE RANGO PHARMACY INC 2501 Third Line 1905-465-3000 Open 24 hours 17 Days a Week 478 Dundas Street West 1905-257-9737 www.shoppersdrugmart.ca