More ambulances for Winnipeg after new service purchase agreement reached

The Manitoba Government and the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS) have completed negotiations on a new service purchase agreement.

The announcement, made Tuesday by Premier Heather Stefanson and Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, is expected to provide better emergency responses, transport and community paramedicine services within Winnipeg.

“This contract ended in March of 2016. We’re seven years later. So don’t underestimate what has been accomplished here today, this is really good news,” said Gillingham. “Today’s agreement strikes the right balance. We’re stepping up our ambulance capacity to ensure our paramedics have the resources they need to do their job effectively, and we’re doing it in a way that makes financial sense for the City of Winnipeg and the Manitoba government.

“It’s a win-win deal that shows what we can achieve when we work together with a shared commitment to our people and fiscal responsibility.”

The agreement will last until Dec. 31, 2027 and has the potential to be extended for an additional five years.

The province confirmed funding will be provided on an annual bases. In 2023, Winnipeg will receive $51.9 million of funding, with an additional $2.1 million for recognized cost recovery items.

“Emergency responders and members of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service have always played an important and vital role in the support and care they provide in community,” said Stefanson. “This agreement is a significant investment reflecting our government’s commitment to healing health care and ensuring emergency responders will continue to be able to offer support and compassionate care during moments of medical distress.”

The agreement with address an increase in patient volumes with the addition of two ambulances staffed 24/7 and 20 new paramedics.

“That’s an average of roughly 450 patient interactions with residents on a daily basis,” said Christian Schmidt, fire and paramedic chief, Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.

Schmidt has previously said upwards of 10 ambulances are needed to combat wait times.

“This certainly will not solve in totality the issues that we’ve had with response times and the demand, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction,” Schmidt added.

“The City of Winnipeg has provided ambulance service within Winnipeg for 48 years. Over that time, we have worked hard to build a service-delivery model that best suits our city. I am proud that the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service will continue as a unified service, providing our residents with the high-quality, compassionate and innovative emergency medical services they have come to expect from us.”

The WFPS will provide reports to Shared Health, so that future funding can better address patient wait times.

“Our two agencies are working together to really do a deep dive on what’s driving this. And is it more travelling ambulances that are needed, or more community paramedics?” asked Helen Clark, Chief Operating Officer, Emergency Response Services with Shared Health.

Kyle Ross, President of the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, says this announcement is a start, but comes up short, and says paramedics need more assistance immediately.

“They’re working off their feet, most of them are burning out. It’s a very challenging environment to work in, very little downtime and there is lots of overtime, it’s challenging.”

Finding paramedics to work in the province has also been a struggle. Schmidt says they don’t want to transfer paramedics from rural Manitoba and create shortages outside of Winnipeg, but the Paramedic Association of Manitoba administrative director Rebecca Clifton says it most likely will.

“We can’t afford to lose another single paramedic, to another location, to another province, to another country. We cannot afford even one.”