In the early years of
Canadian Confederation, health was still considered primarily a municipal rather than provincial matter. The
Public Health Act of 1873 permitted the
Lieutenant Governor to establish, by
proclamation, a temporary "Central Board of Health" to deal with disease if it reached
epidemic proportions. However, no proclamations were ever made, and a Central Board was never established. The
Provincial Board of Health was established on March 10, 1882, and it was charged with overseeing the many local health boards. It also assumed the responsibility of dealing with an epidemic, if one should arise. The board reported to the Lieutenant Governor (1882-1903), to the
Provincial Secretary (1904-1918), then to the
Department of Labour (1919-1924). In 1924, the Provincial Board of Health was replaced by the
Department of Health. In 1930, the department accepted from the Department of the Provincial Secretary the responsibilities for administering Ontario's psychiatric hospitals and inspecting the province's public and private hospitals. Also in 1930, the
Department of Hospitals was established under the direction of the first Minister of Health; that department became a division of the Department of Health in 1934. In 1952, cancer research and the operation of cancer clinics was added to the department's responsibilities. Insured hospital services and insured physicians' services, introduced in 1959 and 1966 respectively, were combined under the
Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) in 1972. The department also had responsibility over areas that are no longer associated with health, such as water and sewage functions (prior to 1957), intellectual disability facilities and children's services (transferred to the
Ministry of Community and Social Services in 1974), and occupational health (transferred to the
Ministry of Labour in 1976). In 1961, the
Royal Commission on Health Services, chaired by Justice
Emmett Matthew Hall, was appointed, which served as a catalyst for a major overhaul of the department. In 1972, the Department of Health was renamed the
Ministry of Health in a government-wide restructuring. In 1999, the Ministry of Health was renamed the
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. In 2011, the Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport was combined with the Ministry. On June 20, 2019, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care was split into the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Long-Term Care. The Ministry of Health retained responsibility for most of the health care system, but the Ministry of Long-Term care is responsible for
long-term care homes and placements. ==List of ministers==