It’s still early in the process and there are a lot of unanswered questions, but it appears there may be another solution to Erin’s ambulance woes: a private provider.
Mark Woodfine, owner of Tack Two Emergency Medical Services and Fire Suppression Inc., told council on Tuesday night his company could provide an ambulance in Erin 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“It’s a win-win situation for everyone,” he said, adding his company could provide a “Band-Aid solution” until more permanent service is found. “If we all work together, I think we could pull this off and provide EMS for the Town of Erin.”
Mayor Lou Maieron said ambulance service in the town has been “an identified problem for five years.” Upon learning of the services offered by Tack Two and that its owner lived just outside Orton, Maieron said he thought it would be a good idea to invite Woodfine to make a presentation to council.
Maieron also noted the owner of the new medical building in Erin wants to know when he will be receiving rent for the ambulance bay that was included as part of the facility.
But town staff and councillors said a lot of issues need to be resolved before they can consider the proposal.
“I’m hearing a lot of things that sound very iffy right now,” said councillor John Brennan.
He specifically questioned Woodfine’s assertion that if the Tack Two ambulance was out of the area taking a patient to hospital, other EMS services in the area “could” cover for it, and vice versa. Brennan said Erin’s fire chief Dan Callaghan should be the one to look into the proposal and see if it was even feasible.
Yet Callaghan hinted there are several road blocks, not the least of which is the Ontario Ambulance Act, which states anyone wanting to operate an ambulance service must meet its “Land Ambulance Certification Standards.” Woodfine admitted his company has not obtained that certification, but it could in the future.
Councillor Barb Tocher noted Wellington County’s past provider, Royal City Ambulance, was a private company, but Callaghan replied there is currently only one certified private provider in the province.
Callaghan also pointed out the Ambulance Act specifically states upper tier municipalities are responsible for providing ambulance service, so he’s unsure what Erin could do on its own without the county and/or City of Guelph relinquishing that responsibility.
When councillor Josie Wintersinger asked about the cost to the town, Woodfine said he’s unsure and would have to provide a more detailed proposal in the future.
He explained his employees are all full-time firefighters or paramedics who work for him on their off days.
He also said his company has three emergency room doctors who are willing to provide their expertise on administering drugs and other medical matters.
Tocher said the town and its residents pay taxes to the county for ambulance service, which is provided by Guelph, and she suggested the county and city may want to “fill the gaps” in the current ambulance system.
“It has to go [to the upper tier],” she said of Woodfine’s proposal.
Maieron said Erin council would discuss the proposal and how it wanted to proceed.
He stressed something has to be done, considering the average ambulance response time in Erin is over 22 minutes, when the provincial target is 15 minutes.
The mayor also noted the two other areas in the county with long wait times, Mapleton and Puslinch, have basically had their concerns addressed through an ambulance in Drayton and a unit for southern Guelph that could serve Puslinch.
That leaves Erin as the only municipality on the outside looking in, he suggested.
