It was news that the mayors of two local communities had been waiting to hear.
At last week’s SUMA convention, Everett Hindley (Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Seniors and Remote Health) announced that additional fund”ing “would be made available in order to “strengthen ambulance service in 27 communities across our province.”
One of the communities receiving funding is Kipling, which will see an increase in paid hours to staff existing resources for 8 hours a day/16 hours on call.
Bill Sluser (Mayor of Glenavon) is spokesperson for a group of mayors from various communities in this area, which had formed in order to address the issue of rural ambulance service.
While he was not on hand to hear the announcement in person, Sluser says that news of the increase reached him quickly.
“I wasn’t there for the News Release.
But I had been talking to Rod MacKenzie (SHA).He is the Executive Director for our area. They didn’t know what was happening beforehand. When the announcement was made, he called me, and he was ecstatic!
He and Glen Perchie (Director, EMS-South-Saskatchewan Health Authority) have been the two people that I have been in contact with the most regarding this issue. Although there were three other people in the office who took a lot of calls and worked hard to help us, I am sending them a Thank-You Card!”
With the additional funding that has been announced, Sluser says that many of the staffing issues that have impacted rural ambulance service can begin to be addressed.
“Now, Glen (Perchie) will be able to post full-time jobs for our area. At least now, we have something that we can offer to people. If you have 24-hour shifts, the first shift gets 8 hours guaranteed, while the rest get 16 hours on call. That will then just be rotated if you have enough staff.”
Sluser goes on to point out that the additional funding will help to attract more paramedics to the area.
“The days of living in Kipling and working for the ambulance just because you lived there are gone. It is just not that way anymore. Paramedics today have to look at the bottom line and think about how much they are getting paid.
“You can’t blame them for that! These people are front line workers. The worked very hard to train in order to be a paramedic. So, I’m glad to see that they will be getting paid properly.”
He adds that the announcement will be welcome news for First Responders as well.
“The issues with staffing and wait times were putting a lot of pressure on First Responders as well. I am a First Responder and I know that in emergency situations where you might have previously expected to be there for thirty minutes…you would now be looking at an hour and a half. That is not what First Responders signed up for.”
Pat Jackson (Mayor of Kipling) says that the announcement will ease the concerns of residents in the community.
“For many years, the ambulance service has been underfunded, which in turn caused it to be underutilized, which in turn caused it to be more underfunded. People have been working to reverse this trend and we are very grateful that steps are being taken by the Provincial Government in this regard.
“Having a reliable service will set the minds of people of the whole area at rest. It will also allow STARS to be doing the task for which they were created rather than doing road ambulance work.
“Many of our residents have passed their 65th birthdays and not having a reliable means to get to our new hospital (or to Regina when this is required) has had some thinking about moving. That is something we never wish to see happening. So, we are pleased.”
Jackson notes however, that more work remains to be done.
“While we now have a new hospital/care home facility, wonderful doctors and nurse practitioners, excellent and caring staff in the Integrated Health Facility, and now a functioning ambulance service, there are still communities around us that are looking to have improvements. We must all work together to keep the Provincial Government making the changes that are needed.
“One positive step is the revamping of recruitment, taking it back to the SaskDocs model but including other health care professionals. This, too, should bring our health system closer to where it needs to be.”
