By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

through march 2024

Stettler region sets new ambulance agreement with AHS

Oct 20, 2022 | 4:40 PM

The Stettler District Ambulance Association (SDAA) has inked a new agreement with Alberta Health Services to extend the contract for Advanced Life Support (ALS).

The current five-year agreement was signed in 2012, and then extended for four years in 2017. It was extended further in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, with negotiations restarting in March 2022.

“SDAA thanks AHS for negotiating in good faith and the Rural Municipalities of Alberta and our Minister of Health, Jason Copping for providing support,” says the association in a release.

According to the SDAA, the agreement includes:

• The extension and continuation of of SDAA’s Advanced Life Support (ALS) service for our region. ALS service means we staff our ambulances with paramedics who are able to administer life-save medications for heart attack, stroke victims and more. ALS service is key to operating successfully and saving lives in regions like ours, where you may be an hour or more in transport to an emergency medical facility.

Five priorities

Chinook's Edge School Division approves 2027 capital plan

10h ago

Volunteer positions

Town of Ponoka invites citizens to apply for roles on Municipal Policing Committee

11h ago

Last seen on March 20

Missing: Jennifer Thom, 15 of Ponoka

12h ago

• Funding SDAA for four new full-time staff (an increase of 50%). This new staff will partially transition SDAA away from Core/Flex scheduling. Core/Flex schedules require staff to work 24 hour shifts for four days straight followed by four days off. Staff is paid for a minimum of 12 hours and are on call for the other 12 hours. Staff receive overtime only when the total calls exceed the 12-hour allotment. Ambulance services across the province struggle with Core/Flex delivery as it doesn’t consider how many hours the employee has to remain awake. Moving forward, Core/Flex will be retained for only half of the service delivery. The remainder of shifts will “assembled shifts”, where staff work a straight 12 hour shift and are relieved by another crew at the end of the 12 hours.

• Acknowledgment by AHS for bad debts. SDAA has been shouldering the majority of the cost of unpaid ambulance bills for the past 10 years, but will now be reimbursed more fairly for bad debts, by Alberta Health Services.

• Increased capital funding for the purchase of ambulances. In 2011 when the original ambulance contract agreement was signed, an ambulance cost $125,000 to purchase. Today, a fully equipped ambulance costs closer to $275,000. The mileage on our ambulances has increased substantially with a large increase in Inter-Facility Transfers (IFTs), as AHS moved to providing more centralized health services.

In a statement to rdnewsNOW, County of Stettler Reeve Larry Clarke says ambulance service, providing life-saving transportation in rural regions of Alberta is so important.

“Rural Alberta is where it all starts. Grain farmers, livestock producers, oil and gas, and so many essential raw materials all come from rural Alberta and supply and support our urban neighbors and centres. We have to ensure we maintain viable communities so we can support this important supply chain, and ambulance services like Stettler District Ambulance are crucial to keeping rural communities viable,” he says.

“SDAA supports Stettler County, the town, two Villages, our seven hamlets, our trade area of over 10,000 citizens, including the south shore of Buffalo Lake which sees thousands of vacationers and tourists each summer. When serious and life-threatening health matters or accidents occur, thousands and thousands of people rely on ambulance service and their ability to respond in a timely manner. We are very pleased to have reached this agreement to continue offering the valuable and life-saving service SDAA provides to our region.”

Adds Alberta Health Services: “AHS is happy to reach an agreement with the Stettler District Ambulance Association for the continued provision of Advanced Life Support (ALS) in the community. We look forward to serving the community by providing timely and effective care to local residents.”

The SDAA has been serving the Stettler region since 1972.

The new contract extension runs through March 2024.