Article content

Public health officials were blindsided by news in Thursday’s budget that health units will be slashed from 35 to 10 across Ontario.

“It came out of the blue, we had no previous warning,” said Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, medical officer of health for the Eastern Ontario Health Unit.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Ontario budget's public health changes blindside officials Back to video

Roumeliotis, who takes over as president of the council of medical officers of health in June, said the general reaction among medical officers of health is shock.

The province also announced it would cut $200 million from the $1-billion public health sector.

“That number is large,” said Ottawa’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Vera Etches. “It is likely greater than a 10-per-cent cut and that is where we want to be cautious that our capacity to protect the health of the public and to promote health is still there. We provide services that keep people well and prevent illness and those are needed.”

Etches said she and other public health officials “did not have an inkling” of the province’s plan to slash the number of health units.