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FORD GOVERNMENT PLAN WORRIES AMBULANCE CHIEF
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
services and the municipal and county governments which operated them. His main concern now is that if the provincial government goes ahead with its amalgamation scheme for ambulance services, then rural areas of the province, like Prescott-Russell, could receive less priority than larger urban communities like Ottawa. He also questions whether a mega-region ambulance service setup will meet the bilingual needs of Prescott-Russell. Chrétien expressed doubt whether a mega-region setup like the Ford government proposes will result in any savings while maintaining service quality. He noted that staff salaries make up 85 per cent of his own regional ambulance budget with the other 15 per cent covering equipment and other resources. The situation is similar for other regional and municipal ambulance services.
A surprise announcement by Premier Doug Ford about plans to revamp Ontario’s paramedic services has Prescott-Russell’s ambulance chief and his staff worried. “They (staff) have a whole bunch of questions,” said Michel Chrétien, Prescott- Russell emergency services director on April 18, “and I can’t answer them.” On April 15, the premier revealed the Progressive Conservative government’s intention to reduce Ontario’s land ambulance service from 52 regional outfits to 10 mega- region operations. The premier did not say how the massive revamping of the province’s ambulance service would be done and that is what worries Chrétien.
Michel Chrétien, directeur des services ambulanciers de Prescott-Russell, s’inquiète de l’impact que le plan du gouvernement Ford, visant à réorganiser le système ambulancier de l’Ontario, aura sur le service dans les régions rurales comme Prescott-Russell. Lui et d’autres chefs des services ambulanciers ont été pris au dépourvu par l’annonce surprise, le 15 avril, d’un plan visant à fusionner les 52 services ambulanciers régionaux en 10 mégaopérations régionales. L’annonce a suscité la protestation d’organismes représentant les municipalités et les ambulanciers paramédicaux de l’Ontario, qui affirment que le gouvernement provincial aurait dû les consulter au sujet du plan. —photo Gregg Chamberlain
“How are we going to maintain speed and quality of care?” he said, adding that he and other regional ambulance chiefs were “completely blindsided” by the premier’s announcement. Follow-up comments by the premier and other senior government officials stated that the provincial government will “work closely with its paramedic and municipal partners” on the new ambulance service plan. But both the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the Ontario Association of Paramedic Chiefs stated that they were never consulted by the government about the proposal before Monday’s announcement. Chrétien noted that when the previous Liberal government looked into revamping the ambulance dispatch setup for the province, there was a consultation process that involved all the regional ambulance
“The government hasn’t said anything BCPVUUIBU DPTU u$ISÊUJFOTBJEi8IPT HPJOHUPCFBSUIFCSVOUPGUIBU 8IPTHPJOH to pay for this?” Chrétien noted that there are ways to save on expenses for Ontario’s ambulance services, through bulk equipment purchases when possible and in other areas, but he emphasized that senior government officials need to consult frontline staff for advice and suggestions. He expressed hope that the provincial government will put any further plans for revamping Ontario’s ambulance service on temporary hold now and do a proper consultation with municipalities and paramedics on its proposal. «They need to listen to us,» he said. “They need to understand.”
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