The health boards in Huron and Perth are ready to get together.
The chair of the Huron County Board of Health, Tyler Hessel, says they are ready to start the amalgamation process after cleaning up a couple of details.
“At this point, the Ministry of Health has asked us to ratify a few legislative requirements, so both boards have looked at it and we're just finalizing some last details on that," says Hessel. "And then pending that all working out, we will be looking forward to getting some funding to look at hiring a consultant to help us through the steps of amalgamation.”
Hessel says they hope to have their first transitional steering group meeting by the end of January.
The process to amalgamate the Huron and Perth health boards will take about two years.
“The original consultant that was hired suggested that it would be a two-year transition," added Hessel. "And both boards have set the date of a possible full amalgamation by December 31st, 2009, so that would give two years, so both boards have agreed in principle.”
The ultimate goal is to improve the delivery of service in both Huron and Perth.
