Public Health Units


In the province of Ontario, Canada, Public Health Units are bodies that administer health programming such as communicable disease control, food premise inspection, and health education. Generally, they are agencies of the Province, but in some municipalities they are run by the municipal government. They're funded by both the province and the municipality.
These are separate from the Local Health Integration Networks.

Units

Health units previously were at the municipal level, meaning that small villages or lowly-populated townships would have their own health programs. As of 1931, Ontario had 944 Medical Officers of Health, of which only 12 were full-time. Advocates for amalgamation included Dr. John Morrow Robb, the provincial Minister of Health from 1930 to 1934. He noted in 1931 that by banding together, municipalities could hire someone full-time.
This sort of call continued for decades, with the Lakeshore Board of Education in 1956 asking the councils of the Town of Mimico, Town of New Toronto, and Village of Long Branch to consider forming one central service. In 1960, the Toronto Board of Health chair called for a Metro-wide board, stating "epidemics don't recognize municipal boundaries. The present chaotic division of health responsibilities in ridiculous." Such moves were opposed as of 1967, with Metro's six mayors claiming that one body couldn't serve 2 million residents. One chair suggested that a merger would lead to a "lowest common denominator" approach.