Rural health unit offices get reprieve – at least until September

Several rural public health offices – including Picton’s – will not be closed by the Southeast Public Health (SEPH) board – at least until September 2026.

During Wednesday’s district board of health meeting, the board voted to revisit the decision to close them, following a review of an updated report on the rural strategy implementation and use of the branch offices.

In November, it was announced SEPH would relinquish leases for offices within proximity (50 km or less) to offices owned in Belleville, Kingston, Brockville, and Smiths Falls, as of March 1, 2026.

The office locations closing would include Almonte, Gananoque, Kemptville, Napanee, Perth, Picton and Trenton. Operations would also discontinue at the office owned in Cloyne on March 1, where the space has been underutilized and considered not conducive to facilitating programs and services. Operations would continue in the leased office in Bancroft, due to its significant distance from the four owned offices.

Wednesday’s decision followed several deputations from communities concerned about program cuts and reductions with the planned closure of the offices.

Barinder Gill, Executive Director of the Prince Edward Family Health Team and council member Kate MacNaughton were among those who presented deputations.

SEPH’s Rural Services Delivery Strategy was presented by Dr. Piotr Oglaza, Medical Officer of Health and CEO, and several frontline staff. The board endorsed, in principle, its direction with several caveats including no closure of satellite offices without prior approval of the Board of Health, meaningful consultations with stakeholders and partners, and an audit of available space in rural areas that will accommodate mobile and pop-ups services.

It was noted a critical component of the strategy is to find ways to deliver services in the most cost-efficient way possible, by leveraging community spaces to offer the same number of clinics, or more, for a fraction of the cost.​

It was announced at the meeting this work is already showing positive results, and a recently signed partnership agreement with the Prince Edward Family Health Team (PEFHT) will allow the SEPH to continue using a clinical space in Picton, as well as the board room for vaccine clinics, and space to support the well water sampling program, free of charge.

Dr. Oglaza expressed his gratitude to the PEFHT, and all municipal and community partners, for their generosity and willingness to collaborate in continuing partnerships to best serve communities across the SEPH region.

The initial assessment found the branch offices are underutilized and not operating at full capacity. They are also failing to make the best use of time and resources (costing approximately $550,000 annually) and may not be providing optimal service delivery for hard-to-reach and vulnerable populations.

The Southeast Public Health (SEPH) has 13 offices located over nearly 20,000 square kilometres and serves more than 550,000 residents.

Following the merger of the Hastings Prince Edward Board of Health with Kingston, Frontenac, and Lennox & Addington Public Health (KFL&APH) and Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health (LGLDH) the new agency has also been looking at the best way forward to continue providing core, mandated public health services across the new region, especially to rural areas.

Picton health unit office among seven locations to close