By Chad Paulin
While Ottawa-Carleton’s financial well-being may be bolstered by the region’s proposed budget, critics fear it’s being achieved at the expense of the health of the community.
Of the $6.2 million in service cuts outlined in the proposed budget, $1.2 million would come out of health programs. Such a move would result in fewer dental care classes in schools to reduced hours for sexual health clinics, for example.
“Any cuts to any of those programs will have both short- and long-term impacts in eroding the health of the community,” says Robert Fox, of the Centretown Community Health Centre.
“We’ve been happy with what the health department has been able to do in keeping the community healthy and it’s important they continue to do that job.”
In order to avoid a tax increase, the proposed budget calls on the health department to work with community agencies, like the centre, to fill the void created by program cuts.
But while Fox says his centre’s funding won’t be cut — it isn’t directly funded by the region — he notes many agencies may not be equipped to handle these additional demands.
“In the absence of services offered by the region, there will be a greater demand on our centre to provide those services,” he says. “But our resources are already stretched and we’re already trying to do more every day.
“With all these cuts, more people will need more assistance. As much as the region may want us to pick up the
slack, there aren’t enough resources in the community to finance those programs.”
Kathleen Gottfried, executive director of the Senior Citizens Council, agrees.
Her agency informs seniors of services available in the community to help them in their day-to-day lives. It publishes a directory which lists services from snow shoveling to in-home nursing care.
But while Gottfried says the directory is important in helping seniors live independent lives at home, the proposed budget recommends axing it. The document calls on community agencies to find ways to pay the printing costs.
Gottfried insists without the regional grant, there’s no way she could get the 1,800 copies printed.
“We’re already bare-boned,” she says.
Fox says Centretown may be most affected by the cuts because of the number of needy families, seniors and homeless, many of whom depend on public services provided by the region.
He adds that health cuts may also be short-sighted because many of the problems the services are supposed to address will be more difficult and more costly to deal with.
“It’s penny-wise but pound-foolish to be cutting back on programs that promote people’s health and allow them greater access to health,” he says, noting that provincial cuts to hospitals were meant to be cushioned by increased community health care.
That’s an opinion shared by the region’s medical officer of health, Robert Cushman.
While he concedes the region must balance its books, he says the health department may be taking a disproportionate hit in the proposed budget with about 20 per cent of the service cuts. That, he says, may be ill-advised, because it would save money.
“At the end of the day, there’s only one taxpayer,” Cushman says. “While it may save some regional expenditures, it will only increase provincial spending (on health) down the line.
“People want value for their money, and public health provides it.”
Meanwhile, Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes says the cuts are bad for everyone.
“These cuts prevent the region from keeping it a healthy place to live, whether it’s getting people into employment or helping new mothers with their babies,” she says.