Friday, December 1, 2023 | 12:30 p.m. | Windsor-Essex County
The following statement can be attributed to Dr. Kenneth Blanchette, Chief Executive Officer for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU):
“The approved 2024 budget for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit includes reductions in staffing and programming across multiple areas. Our health unit, like others in the province, is facing a fixed 3-year provincial increase of 1% per year, which does not keep up with current inflation. In addition, work associated with COVID-19 response, including outbreaks, case and contact management, and vaccination is ongoing, however provincial funding will no longer be available. These factors, in combination with an internal program review, created the basis for difficult but essential decisions related to reductions for the coming year.
The WECHU has begun the process of notifying our staff of an overall reduction in the number of unionized and non-union positions by approximately 10% relative to our 2023 complement. This amounts to 24 unionized and non-unionized positions, however through attrition and voluntary retirements we endeavor to reduce this number to the extent possible.
Details related to the approved operational budget will be shared to our website shortly. Although the programs listed below will continue to operate, various levels of impact will be experienced, and clients will be notified accordingly.
- Nutrition and Healthy Eating Services
- Infectious Disease Prevention
- Healthy Growth and Development
- Tobacco and Vaping Prevention
- Substance Use Prevention and Harm Reduction
- Injury Prevention
- School Health Promotion
- Immunization
- Oral Health Promotion
- Environmental Health Promotion
We are committed to ensuring reductions in services and programs are communicated quickly to our clients and partners. Our team has been through numerous challenges and changes over the past several years. I am proud of the work of the WECHU and the resilience our staff continue to demonstrate.”