Last year, it was announced there would be a major change in how EMS would be delivered in the province. Many communities would be losing their ambulance garages – Boissevain being one of them – and instead would be serviced by larger groups in other communities. Predictably, this did not go down well in Boissevain, and Council and members of the community have been fighting hard to get the decision reversed.
Councillor Judy Swanson, also in the delegation, said they first met in the morning with civil servants like Craig MacDonald, the director of regional cabinet operations. They talked about the ambulance situation and were able to get a few points across on the geographical context.
“We talked about the ambulance and #10 highway,” Swanson stated. “They talked about how their plan would work so much better, but they did take notes and listened to us.”
“One of the civil servants seemed to realize we were concerned about #10,” Stead added, referring to the fact under their plan there would be no ambulances on the highway south of Brandon to the border.
“We were able to get across how much traffic we have here. I think #10 is one of our strong points.”
In the afternoon, the group was able to meet directly with Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen. Once there, they were able to present the minister with the petition signed by 1,500 community members saying the ambulance should stay in town.
“With that number of people, that is like 100% of the population of our community. It showed we were not going to go away either. I think it means something.”
Stead said the minister indicated the community would not lose any service even if the garage was gone. The idea would be to have full time paramedics and put them ‘where the action was’.
Swanson added the health minister did understand Boissevain was not a community that would howl with no reason.
“He acknowledged that Boissevain was not always asking for things,” she said. “We presented the petition and our business case and he said he would take it under consideration.”
Another concern was the posting of an ambulance job in Killarney. The fear was if someone in Boissevain applied and got it, the RHA or Manitoba Health would not replace that position in town, what Stead called “getting rid of it by the back door.” They did get assurance that it would be replaced, which was good news.
As well, Swanson said she brought up the need to have Telehealth, a system of meeting with doctors in Winnipeg from a rural health centre in Boissevain. She said the minister felt it should be in all communities and that Boissevain should work with MLA Doyle Piwniuk to get it here, which also was positive.
In between, those involved with the assisted living project who came out, including George Heide, Don Engbrecht, Dave Hicks, met with different civil servants on that file, like Dwayne Rewniak of Manitoba Housing and Dwayne Marling of the Ministry of Families. They presented the community’s idea of having a 36-unit assisted living facility in Boissevain. Swanson, who is also heavily involved in the project, said they brought along their model of the project and discussed the benefit of it. Everyone seemed impressed with the idea, the fact it is to be located right next to the health centre, and agreed with the concept of directly connecting the assisted living to the health facility. There were indications that new federal/provincial money for such a development might be coming down the line, and Swanson said they were definitely interested in partnering with the higher levels of government.
“They were very open to it. They absolutely wanted Boissevain to have it. They felt we were moving in the right direction.”
While there, participants were able to take in a session of question period.
Both Stead and Swanson thanked Piwniuk for setting up these meetings, saying he really “went to bat” for the community. They also thanked everyone for signing the petition or having it in their businesses as it made a great impression. Overall, they felt going to Winnipeg was worth the trip.
“If nothing else, we were vocal,” Swanson stated. “They know Boissevain is not happy with the ambulance situation.”
“How do you really know (if it did any good),” Stead asked. “If you don’t do anything, nothing happens. If you lose one thing, what comes next? We have to keep plugging. These changes with the ambulance are going to be 5-7 years down the road. So we will keep fighting.”
by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder Staff