Lakelands Public Health is marking one year of operations, after it was created by merging two health units together, with the release of their annual report.
After the merging of the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit and Peterborough Public Health in 2025, the new health unit focused on harmonizing procedures across the 20 municipalities and three first nations within their coverage area. Other first-year priorities included modernizing digital systems and building a shared organizational culture across their locations.
“Mergers and changes of any kind are never easy, but they are sometimes necessary,” said Dr. Thomas Piggott, Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Officer of Lakelands Public Health. “Our first year has gone better than I could have expected because of the leadership of our board of health, support from the provincial government, and, most importantly, the dedication of our staff who have embraced the opportunity to build Lakelands Public Health for generations to come.”
The organization also received significant support from the provincial government, with over $20 million in funding to support the merger. Parts of these funds also went towards addressing program capacity issues along with upgrades to buildings and computer infrastructure.
Over the course of the year, the new health unit was able to distribute 147,278 vaccines to health care professionals, and was also able to distribute 2,936 naloxone kits.
The health unit also responded to four measles cases, requiring extensive contact tracing.
