THUNDER BAY - A new Superior North EMS station in Kakabeka Falls that has been nearly seven years in the making is expected to open later this year and will more than triple the level of service to rural areas west of the city.
“This station is going to enhance the level of service we can deliver to the communities out here in Oliver Paipoonge, Conmee, and O’Connor,” said Superior North EMS chief Wayne Gates.
“Our current location we get to 60 calls in under 12 minutes. This new station will allow us to get to 220 calls in under 12 minutes. From a service perspective it is definitely going to enhance our service.”
The 2,240 square-foot drive-through station, located on Marian Road in Kakabeka Falls, will house one ambulance and one crew and will be replacing the existing station in Conmee that has been operating since 2001.
“It was always considered a temporary location,” Gates said. “We got in there and it took us a while before finding an ideal location, which was here in Kakabeka.”
According to Oliver Paipoonge mayor, Lucy Kloosterhuis, the new station has been in the works since 2013 and she is pleased to see construction finally underway at the new facility.
“We started discussing this in 2013 between EMS, the city of Thunder Bay, and Oliver Paipoonge,” she said. “First we had to find a lot, which took a few years to decide on a good location. The price was right and then we started looking at the type of building.”
The cost of the station is just under $1 million with Oliver Paipoonge and the city of Thunder Bay paying for part of the lease and the province picking up the remainder.
“Oliver Paipoonge has taken out a loan for this and they will through the next 25 years be paying a monthly lease payment that will cover the payment for the loan,” Kloosterhuis said. “Fifty per cent of that will be paid for by the province.”
The city of Thunder Bay is the designated delivery agent for land ambulances in the region, serving neighbouring municipalities and townships.
Thunder Bay Mayor Bill Mauro said when it comes to ambulance services the goal is always enhancing efficiency and decreasing response times.
“Previously to this, they had a situation that was good, and this improves upon that,” he said. “This is a health care piece. It’s about trying to meet the needs of your community and the city of Thunder Bay as the primary agent responsible for the delivery of ambulance services takes the responsibility very seriously and will allow us to enhance the service.”
“I think it will be a benefit to all the residents,” Kloosterhuis added. “It’s a good safety asset to not just Oliver Paipoonge, but all rural areas. We all pay a levy to it.”
Gates said Superior North EMS is going through its strategic plan and infrastructure challenges at other stations in the district are being reviewed.
“With this type of model we set up in Oliver Paipoonge I can definitely see that other partnership being developed in other municipalities as well,” he said.
The station in Kakabeka Falls is being constructed by Auroa Construction Ltd. and is designed to resist 100-year storm events and will be completed by the end of the year.
