Successfully strengthening public health in amalgamations and organizational redesigns

Collectively, the Sense and Nous team has worked with many Public Health Units in a variety of projects; below are some examples:

  • Huron Perth Public Health - amalgamation

  • Southwestern Public Health - amalgamation

  • Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit - organizational review

  • Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit - organizational review

  • Public Health Sudbury & Districts - collaborative programming study

  • Algoma Public Health - collaborative programming study

  • Health Unit Haldimand-Norfolk - organizational review

  • North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit - collaborative programming study

We’ve compiled five lessons we’ve learned during our 10+ years of working on Public Health amalgamations and redesigns:

Lesson 1: Amalgamation Boosts Public Health

Amalgamation offers a golden opportunity to enhance your organization's operational capacity for improved public health. Sense and Nous are experts in evaluating your existing capabilities, identifying efficiencies, and optimizing your ability to serve your communities better. Our services include strategic planning, restructuring, risk management, and quality assurance to streamline workflows, infrastructure, and policies, thus empowering you to make a more significant impact.

Lesson 2: In a Well-Done Amalgamation, The Community Wins

In a well-executed amalgamation, there are no winners and losers, and the community benefits from a stronger local public health. We emphasize equitable reallocation of resources and minimizing redundancies, which results in more financial resources available for your mandate. Our expertise lies in creating organizational structures that promote capacity and staff retention, ensuring that your organization remains robust and effective.

Lesson 3: Trust Builds Strong Teams

Neutral facilitation is a key element of building trust and fostering stronger teams. Sense and Nous act as neutral partners at all levels of your organization, from governance to management and staff. Our approach prevents interpersonal challenges and friction. At the management level, we assist in forming a cohesive leadership team. Establishing unified norms and practices in this context is essential for reaching shared goals. Moreover, it's vital to quickly identify the primary concerns of team members and proactively address them. Our analysis aims to identify collaborative areas and opportunities where staff can co-design their integration journey.

Lesson 4: Effective Integration Enhances Teams

Our role is to streamline the integration process. While analyzing organizational design is essential, we see people as the emotional core – the heart of how any organization can achieve an effective amalgamation. We emphasize the creation of shared norms and objectives within each program area. This not only enhances staff engagement but also paves the way for more effective work and staff development. Done correctly, integration can be a positive, exciting experience for your staff.

Lesson 5: A Strong Business Case Secures Funding

A comprehensive feasibility analysis of the health units, including IT, marketing, and governance, can result in a compelling business case for a potential amalgamation, if supported by the analysis. This business case can then be leveraged to request transitional funding from the government, helping leaders turn their vision for change into reality.

If you’d like to learn more about our experiences and lessons learned, contact us at info@sensenous.ca

Tony Yumergers, amalgamation, public health, public health units