Whereas BC Emergency Health Service BCEHSs ambulance service is a vital component of life safety and access to healthcare for those who live and work in small rural communities, often a significant distance from fully-equipped hospitals; And whereas the BC Ambulance Service within rural BC is under critical paramedic shortage and often there is not adequate availability of paramedics, leading to significant shift vacancies and underserviced ambulance for prolonged period of times. This concern is a long standing issue, demonstrating that the current model is unsustainable due to the high degree of training and certification required and lack of meaningful and adequate compensation provided: Therefore be it resolved that the UBCM petition the Province of British Columbia to undertake a review of the BC Ambulance Service, specifically in the rural areas, to find a solution and systematic way of managing recruitment and retention of paramedics and delivery of service in rural communities.
Ministry of Health The Province is supporting BC Emergency Health Services BCEHS to make important changes in the way they serve patients, especially in rural and remote communities. The improvements are part of the implementation of the negotiated collective agreement 2019-2022 ratified by the members of the Ambulance Paramedics of BC CUPE 873 and the Minister of Healths announced plans in July 2021 to strengthen BCs ambulance system. The average annual spending increase for BC Emergency Health Services BCEHS over the last four years is 7.95 the budget has increased from 424.25 million to 559.141 million. In July 2021, the Minister of Health announced plans to further strengthen BCs ambulance system to ensure it is more responsive to British Columbians, a better place to work for paramedics and dispatch staff, and able to meet increasing demands and needs through focused and direct leadership. This work is on top of the improvements to emergency services that are being made through the Rural, Remote, First Nations and Indigenous COVID-19 Response Framework announced in April 2020, and improvements negotiated through the collective agreement between BCEHS and the BC Ambulance Paramedics 2019-2022. The Ministers July 2021 announcement on actions to strengthen the provincial ambulance service include funding for an additional: - 85 new full-time paramedics - 30 dispatchers - 22 additional ambulances - 24 additional 247 ambulance stations in rural communities and new regular part time positions for the smallest remote stations. Leadership changes including a reconstituted board and a new chief ambulance officer position, will enable a direct and focussed approach to ensure better service for patients and families and better supports for front-line staff. The Rural, Remote, First Nations and Indigenous COVID-19 Response Framework is intended to bring both immediate and long-term, sustainable solutions to those living in rural and remote communities. In addition to adding ambulances and air ambulances, the Framework has resulted in improvements to service delivery including the expansion of the First Nation Health Authority Virtual Doctor of the Day, access to HealthLink BCs Emergency iDoctor-in-assistance HEiDi, and several real-time virtual support pathways for providers available through the Rural Coordination Centre for BC. BCEHS is making important changes in the way they serve their patients especially in rural and remote communities through the implementation of the negotiated collective agreement 2019-2022 ratified by the members of the Ambulance Paramedics and Dispatchers Association of BC CUPE 873. Historically, BCEHS has relied heavily on on-call paramedic staffing in rural and remote areas. As part of the collective agreement, several initiatives were agreed upon including a new staffing model. This model is meant to provide rural and remote communities with permanent, salaried jobs for paramedics, with employer-provided health and wellness benefits, consistent emergency coverage and improved paramedic recruitment and retention. There will be continued collaboration between the Ambulance Paramedics and Dispatchers Association of BC and BCEHS to implement measures to address employee wellness, operational performance, workload, response times, recruitment and retention, and public engagement. The Province recognizes the importance of this work and strongly supports this constructive and co-operative approach. The chief ambulance officer will be working with the union to find areas of common ground and solutions to continue to improve the ambulance system. Key statistics: - Between 2017 and 2019, 115 regular paramedic positions were added. - Additionally, 20 dispatchers, 4 nurses, 20 paramedic specialists, and 3 paramedic practice leads were added to support modernizing how BCEHS dispatches ambulances across the province. - Between January 2021 and June 2021, BCEHS hired 271 paramedics, including 66 new scheduled on call positions. - On July 2, 2021, 295 new paramedic postings were rolled out across the province in relation to the negotiated collective agreement. - Before 2017, BCEHS had 506 ambulances and 11 air ambulances. Additional investments have increased that number to 593 ambulances and 16 air ambulances. - 55 of these ambulances and 5 air ambulances were activated to support rural, remote, First Nation and Indigenous communities in response to COVID-19. The 5 new air resources are positioned to ensure effective air coverage across the province with 3 in Prince George, 1 in Kelowna and 1 in Nanaimo. - The other 11 air ambulances include 4 helicopters 2 in Vancouver, 1 in Prince Rupert and 1 in Kamloops, 6 fixed wing planes 2 in Kelowna, 2 in Vancouver, 1 in Prince George and 1 in Fort St John and 1 jet based out of Vancouver.