The Municipality of Chatham-Kent will be extending its contract for land ambulance services with Medavie EMS Ontario Ltd. for five years, following Council’s approval at the meeting on Monday, June 27.
Council has directed administration to negotiate an agreement with the current third-party provider of EMS services for five years, subject to a legal agreement approved by the Chief Legal Officer and Fire Paramedic Chief, based on an amended motion put to the floor by Ward 6 Chatham Councillor Michael Bondy.
Council directed Chatham-Kent Fire and Emergency Services to conduct a service review for the delivery of Fire and EMS services. As directed by Council at the May 16 meeting, staff negotiated with the respective parties and presented a report to Council recommending Council approve a two-year agreement with the current contract provider and proceed with further negotiations for a blended Fire-Paramedic Service (Model C), with a report back to Council for a final decision.
During the June 27 meeting, Council defeated both the motion for a two-year contract extension by a margin of 7 – 6 votes (with one abstention for a conflict of interest) and a separate motion for negotiating a blended Fire-Paramedic Service (Model C). Council approved an amended motion to extend the land ambulance services with the current contractor for five years, with no additional resources at a cost of $10.3 million for 2017 (approximately a $1.1 Million increase to the current budget); $10.5 million for 2018; $10.9 million for 2019; $11.1 million for 2020; and $11.3 million for 2021, subject to a legal agreement approved by the Chief Legal Officer and Fire Paramedic Chief.
“There has been a lot of public debate about the different service delivery models for Fire and EMS and the costs associated with them. I worked for more than three decades in EMS: on the frontline as a primary care paramedic, an advanced care paramedic and a critical care flight paramedic, as well as a Base Hospital program manager, a Canadian Medical Association accreditation team member and an administrator. I understand their concerns,” said Fire Paramedic Chief Ken Stuebing. “I want what the people of Chatham-Kent want – the best possible EMS and Fire services for our community. We were asked to provide this information for Council and we have done what we were asked to do. I support Council’s decision and will continue to work with Medavie over the next five years.”
The Municipality is fully supportive of the role paramedics and firefighters serve in the community. Its goal is to try and ensure both roles are sustainable in the future.
“It is important for me to do what is best for the residents of Chatham-Kent. We know, based on the extensive service review, that the challenges we face as a community with an aging population, wide geographic area, growing cost for health care and our ability to meet target response times for EMS and Fire, are not going away,” said Stuebing.
The Fire Paramedic Chief recommended additional resources to maintain EMS response times and capacity if Council elected to renew a 5 year contract.
Council directed Municipal administration in 2012 to conduct a service reviews for all business units in order to identify potential improvements to effectiveness and efficiency in service delivery, and develop a plan to achieve financial sustainability for those services. These reviews, which are part of the Service Sustainability Review Process, have been ongoing.
During CKFES’s service review, Council directed administration to investigate the cost of maintaining the status quo (which later became Model A); a Municipal managed and administered, stand-alone EMS service (Model B); and other options. During this more than two-year review process, it was determined the most cost-effective and efficient option was Model C – a blended service delivery model for Fire and EMS.
On May 16, Council directed staff to discuss or negotiate Model B and C with the respective parties and report back to Council on proceeding with Model A, B, or portions or all of C. by June 13, 2016. Due to the time constraints, the report to council was delivered on June 27, 2016.
“We have followed the directions of Council and presented what we believed to be the most cost-effective, efficient and financially sustainable options for delivery of Fire and EMS services in Chatham-Kent,” said Don Shropshire, Chief Administrative Officer of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. “As a result of this service review and Council’s directions, we will be moving forward with our contractor, Medavie EMS Ontario Ltd., to continue to offer Chatham-Kent residents high-quality emergency services.”
The current EMS contract is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2016. The Municipality is required to provide six months’ notice to the current contractor of its intentions to renew the contract.
