COVID-19 response remains large part of 2022 Ottawa Public Health budget

Medical staff work at a computer terminal as they prepare for the opening of the COVID-19 Assessment Centre at Brewer Park Arena in Ottawa, during a media tour on Friday, March 13, 2020. The assessment centre, operated by The Ottawa Hospital and CHEO, is an out-of-hospital clinic where people can be assessed and tested for COVID-19 if required. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA -

Spending on the COVID-19 response remains a significant part of Ottawa's health budget in 2022, even as vaccination coverage approaches 90 per cent.

Ottawa Public Health's 2022 draft budget was tabled at Monday's Board of Health meeting. It projects a balanced budget of $123 million next year, including $41.5 million on COVID-19 measures.

Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches said there is still a lot of work that will go into the COVID-19 response in the new year and beyond.

"It takes case and contact management to keep things under control. All of the outbreak prevention work to reinforce infection prevention control measures in many kinds of settings continues," she explained. "The school support work will continue. Today and in the new year we expect to have the highest rates among five to 11-year-olds and that requires a lot of effort to limit transmission. And with changing pandemic needs, there's a lot of ongoing need to communicate what is needed and what the rules are."

Etches said she anticipates some COVID-19 work could continue into 2023, but she also noted that the budget includes a plan to gradually de-escalate the COVID-19 response in 2022.

"The 2022 plan is to maintain the current response level until the end of April. In May, a gradual process of de-escalation of the pandemic response is expected to be initiated and a reduction of the additional resources down to 75 per cent of existing levels. A further reduction of the response is expected in July to approximately 50 per cent of existing levels and then again in the last quarter of 2022 – down to 30 per cent," a report prepared for the Board of Health says.

The budget currently does not include associated costs with COVID-19 vaccine booster shots. Staff say a full costing to administer booster vaccines will be provided to the Board of Health if and when they are identified in provincial plans.

While the budget COVID-19 response is high, it is roughly $5 million less than the spending in 2021 to fight the pandemic.

The budget also includes $47.7 million in one-time expenditures on COVID-19.

"The remaining addition of $47.7 million is the one-time request related to COVID-19 and OPH’s need to maintain the fall 2021 response level through the winter, before decreasing the intensity of the response over the year," the staff report says.

Staff say the Ministry of Health has told Ontario's health units that there will be a process to request reimbursement of 2021 COVID-19 extraordinary costs.

"Thus it is anticipated that Provincial funding will fully offset all pandemic related costs therefore balancing the budget," staff said.

In addition to COVID-19 expenses, the budget includes $22.3 million for core programs at OPH, such as dental health, mental health, and school immunizations (non-COVID), which the health unit began to restore in the summer and fall after many staff were shifted to the COVID-19 response. $2.7 million is included for the Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program and $4.5 million is budgeted for the Healthy Babies Healthy Children program.

The 2022 draft budget report will be presented to city council on Wednesday. The board will consider the budget for approval at its subsequent meeting on Nov. 29 before the full budget is tabled at city council on Dec. 8.