Union raises alarm over lack of rural paramedics

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This article was published 11/02/2022 (1347 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Even more ambulances are sitting idle in rural Manitoba due to a lack of staff, according to fresh data obtained by the union for most paramedics outside Winnipeg.

“The paramedics who are out there are running ragged,” said Bob Moroz, president of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals. “They are burning out; they continue to leave (the profession), and I think our data are showing that.”

A month ago, the union published internal reports showing showing a steep rise in the monthly hours ambulances are supposed to be on rotation but lack the legislated requirement of a two-person crew.

As of October 2021, that metric had tripled since March 2020.

The problem got even worse in December, according to data from the Medical Transportation Co-ordination Centre, the command centre for almost all ambulances outside of Winnipeg, obtained by the union.

The new data also show a steep increase in response times in the last three months of 2021, compared with the same period three years prior.

The average response time for 90 per cent of patients, regardless of the severity of injuries, jumped by 35 per cent in the Interlake-Eastern Health Region, compared with 23 per cent in Prairie Mountain and 10 per cent in Southern Health.

“We just don’t have enough people working as paramedics in this province,” said Moroz, whose union represents more than 800 rural paramedics.

The data is published internally, and is available through media requests, but it used to be posted online every quarter until Shared Health took over some functions from health regions.

Moroz said he wants Health Minister Audrey Gordon to hire more staff, but her office said Friday it’s up to Shared Health, since it’s technically the employer.

Ian Shaw, lead of Manitoba’s provincial health reform, told reporters Friday the government is expanding rural health services, and argued that will mean shorter trips for paramedics in the long run.

“That additional (rural health) capacity means less trips… that’s really the key to improving thing over the long run for these individuals,” he said.

The PCs had made some headway on rural ambulance response times after they took office in 2016, with the number of hours ambulances could not be deployed dropping up until May 2020. Since then, monthly out-of-service hours have skyrocketed.

While Shared Health has added 149.2 full-time equivalent paramedic positions since 2016, Moroz said the system remains short-staffed and people are quitting.

As evidence, the total hours Manitoba was able to deploy rural ambulances dropped by five per cent in that time, suggesting the system has operated on a skeleton crew.

Manitoba officials have tried to use technology to make the system more efficient, such as by sending paramedics into busier regions when they have fewer calls.

“During the pandemic, these efforts have included redeployment, engagement of relief staff and callouts for recently retired or former paramedics to rejoin the workforce as part of our COVID response,” wrote Shared Health spokesman Jason Permanand, who reiterated a January list of actions the agency has taken.

Moroz argued those amount to tinkering around a system that simply needs more new staff.

“Technology systems and geoposting — all those things are fine, but they really don’t matter because we don’t have enough people.”

— with files from Katie May

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca