The Northern Ontario Service Deliverers Association has requested an Association of Municipalities of Ontario delegation to meet with Christine Elliott, the Minister of Health to discuss the modernization of paramedic services.
Association executive director Fern Dominelli in the fall of 2019, the Ontario government introduced Jim Pine as the advisor to lead the ministry’s engagements with municipalities and health sectors to modernize those vital services.
He says paramedic services in Northern Ontario provide coverage for vast geographic areas and many paramedic stations in the North are single-vehicle stations staffed with one crew.
He adds in many cases many of those stations operate on a call-back system in the evenings with the next closest ambulance being more than one hour away.
Dominelli says those services must be modernized to meet today’s needs, especially in the wake of the pandemic.
He adds they hope to hear from the government soon.