Southeast Public Health to Refocus Rural Service Delivery

Press Release – Southeast Public Health 

Over the last several months, Southeast Public Health (SEPH) has been critically assessing the best way to serve the southeast region as a unified agency.

Among activities like merging teams across the region and harmonizing our programming, the agency has also been looking at the best way forward to continue providing core, mandated public health services across our new region, especially to rural areas.

“The merger has given us time and funding to truly look at how we were delivering programs and services as legacy agencies, and to find new and innovative ways to provide programs and services together, as Southeast Public Health,” said Dr. Piotr Oglaza, Medical Officer of Health and CEO of SEPH.

Through this process, a comprehensive assessment of SEPH office locations, service usage, and occupancy costs was undertaken. Community needs, evolution of service delivery models, and workforce preservation were also evaluated. The findings from this assessment indicated that several leased office locations were being underutilized, and that cost savings from terminating these leases could be reinvested back into the agency to fund new and effective ways of offering programs and services. This approach will protect core public health programs and services while enhancing the long-term sustainability of our agency.

Following this assessment, the decision was made to relinquish leases for offices within proximity (50 km or less) to offices owned in Belleville, Kingston, Brockville, and Smiths Falls as of March 1, 2026. 

The affected office locations are as follows:

• Almonte
• Gananoque
• Kemptville
• Napanee
• Perth
• Picton
• Trenton

Operations will also discontinue at the office owned in Cloyne on March 1, 2026, where the space has been underutilized as it is not conducive to facilitating SEPH programs and services. Operations will continue in the leased office in Bancroft, due to its significant distance from the four owned offices.

In the coming months, we will introduce rural service strategies that will employ evidence-based ways of delivering services to rural communities that leverage existing community strengths and resources, while focusing on key areas like connectivity and integration of programs and services across southeast region.

“I want to assure you that we remain fully committed to the health and well-being of our rural communities,” said Dr. Oglaza. “The decision to close these offices was aimed at optimizing operations while continuing to serve the community's needs.”

Staff will work closely with our partners to continue delivering essential public health programs and services in these areas. There are no permanent employee positions being eliminated due to these changes.