City to end dedicated COVID-19 response, cuts pandemic hires

Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawa's medical officer of health, told the board of health the public health agency will return to pre-pandemic levels of full-time employees by 2024.

Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawa's medical officer of health, told the board of health the public health agency will return to pre-pandemic levels of full-time employees by 2024.

According to Etches, Ottawa Public Health (OPH) grew from 500 employees in March 2022 to 4,400 at the peak of its pandemic response. A majority of those workers were focused on immunization, she said.

"We have been decreasing this number since the peak of Omicron arriving in our community in January 2022," she said during a board of health meeting Monday night.

"But now we'll be back down to about 500 people in the spring of 2024."

In its $87.5 million budget for 2024, which the board of health voted in favour of Monday, OPH earmarked $6.82 million in "one time" COVID-19 funding. Starting in 2024, the provincial government will no longer pay for municipal costs related to COVID-19 programming.