An increase in workload for city paramedics might lead to changes for coverage in the district.
Superior North EMS, which services the entire Thunder Bay district, received 26,000 calls last year with 4,500 of them coming from outside the city.
Offloading delays, when paramedics have to wait at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre until staff can see them, non-urgent transfers and an increase in calls have led to rising costs for EMS.
Director Norm Gale told a room full of district municipal leaders Friday morning at the Thunder Bay District Municipal League fall meeting that he will be providing Thunder Bay city council with several options on a strategic plan Nov. 7.
Those options include maintaining status quo or expanding services in Thunder Bay while keeping current service to the district or reducing it.
“We have a few stations (in the district) that have low utilization and are situated in close proximity to each other,” Gale said.
While closing some stations or transferring EMS staff to Thunder Bay would lead to an increase in response times for some parts of the district, Gale said people would still get service.
As the delivery agent for Superior EMS, the decision lies with Thunder Bay city council.
Another request from Gale would see an increase to the EMS budget, which is $18 million for 2011, by up to 10 per cent. The province pays half of that budget so there is an uncertainty whether it would pay for the increase.
“If the budget increases should that be borne by the municipalities when or will the province come pay their 50 per cent?” Gale said are some questions that would need to be answered.
MPP Michael Gravelle (Lib., Thunder Bay-Superior North) said he made a point of attending the presentation by Gale so that he can be informed about the district’s issues. He wants to alert health minister Deb Matthews about the issue.
“In order for those services to remain in place the province will need to retain and remain its commitment to the 50 per cent funding levels,” Gravelle said.
