Conseil
9 December 2009 / le 9 décembre 2009
Submitted by/Soumis par : Steve Kanellakos, Deputy City Manager/Directeur
municipal adjoint,
City Operations/Opérations
municipales
Contact Person/Personne ressource : Catherine Frederick, Director, Human
Resources
(613)
580-2424 x12752, catherine.frederick@ottawa.ca
That Council, as the Board of Health, direct the Deputy City Manager of City Operations to execute the necessary agreements to acquire the provincial funding provided by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, for the duration of the program, to increase the compensation levels for the incumbents in the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) and Associate Medical Officer of Health (AMOH) positions.
Que le Conseil, en tant que Conseil de la santé,
charge le directeur municipal adjoint, Opérations municipales, de conclure les
ententes nécessaires pour obtenir le financement provincial fourni par le
ministère de la Santé et des Soins de longue durée, pour toute la durée du
programme, afin d’accroître la rémunération des médecins occupant les postes de
médecin chef en santé publique et de médecin adjoint en santé publique.
Recruiting and retaining MOHs and AMOHs has historically been a challenge, resulting in vacancies in Ontario’s public health units and positions filled temporarily on an acting basis. MOH and AMOH compensation levels compared to other physician specialists have been identified as a key factor influencing physicians considering careers in public health.
Recruitment and retention of MOHs and AMOHs is considered essential to public health renewal as public health delivery occurs at the local level, and vacancies in these roles have created significant and longstanding issues for Ontario's public health system. Compensation levels for these jobs have historically not been competitive with the levels of other physician specialists, so improving compensation levels for MOHs/AMOHs is considered a key strategy for recruitment and retention initiatives.
The Ministry of Health and Long
Term Care (Ministry) and the Ontario Medical Association have developed a
process and a salary grid to provide increased levels of compensation for MOH
and AMOH incumbents. The provisions
were established to bring MOHs and AMOHs up to salary levels that are
competitive with other physician specialists and to improve the ability for
organizations to attract and retain qualified employees. The current cost sharing agreements will
continue however, the Ministry has committed to providing 100% of the
additional funds required to implement this initiative, so there is no impact
on the non-provincial portion of the budgets for the Boards of Health (i.e.,
the differential cost of the higher salaries and benefits are not incurred by
the City of Ottawa). The term for this
program is April 1, 2009 – March 31, 2012.
Participation in this process is
voluntary. It should be noted that all
of the City's municipal peers with public health responsibilities have
confirmed that they have submitted applications to receive the provincial
funding.
To be considered for the additional compensation, Boards of Health must have submitted the 2009 Board of Health Application and Consent Form for Medical Officer of Health and Associate Medical Officer of Health Compensation for each of the eligible incumbents to the Ministry by October 6, 2009.
An overview of the compensation initiative is as follows:
§ Term of the program April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2012
§ Placement on the salary grid is determined by the Ministry and considers years of experience, education and level of responsibility
§ Salary grid will be adjusted annually
§ Applications for funding must be submitted annually by the Boards of Health
MOHs and AMOHs are employees of the Boards of Health under the Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA). While the Ministry is providing 100% funding for the increased compensation, this does not change the MOH's and AMOH's employment relationship with their respective Boards of Health
RURAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no rural implications associated with this report
Not Applicable
Given that this initiative is funded entirely by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care and is not intended to affect the City’s contractual obligations with the Medical Officer of Health and Associate Medical Officers of Health, there are no significant legal or risk management implications associated with the contents of this report.
There is no net cost to the City for this request, as the total cost of $177,103 will be fully funded by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.
N/A
Human Resources Department will coordinate the implementation of any direction received as part of consideration of this report.