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For 30 years, ambulance services in Ontario were fully funded and
managed by the provincial government. There has always been a mix of
who operated the ambulance services. Some were operated by the
province, others by hospitals and still others by owner-operators. But
all ambulance operations were fully funded and controlled by the
provincial government.
The Harris government reversed that policy in 1997, bringing about
a major shake-up in how ambulance services are delivered in Ontario.
Since 1998, the province now only funds half the cost. Cash-strapped
regional and county governments have to pay the balance.
As well, they have been given the responsibility of deciding who
will provide ambulance services in their region or county. All
decisions have to be made and ambulance operators be in place by
January 1, 2001. This includes finding operators to replace the 10
provincial ambulance services. Three of the 10 services ceased to
operate January 1 of this year, with the remainder shutting down by
January 1, 2001.
One of the options open to regional and county governments is to
contract out ambulance services to private, for-profit companies. In
the future, making a profit for shareholders could become more
important than saving lives.
| On January 9, 2002, It's time to vote OPSEU |
Oxford County Ambulance Services to vote on Jan. 9, 2002 Download this flyer .pdf 84.24KB  |
| Ambulance Dispatch Centres |
| December 5, 2001 Emergency Medical Dispatchers face low wages, attrition, and an impossible workload in many Ontario centres. Download this sample letter and send it to your MPP. |
| Press Release |
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December 12, 2001 The City of Hamilton’s dangerous meddling in union affairs has cost taxpayers thousands of dollars and may even put the lives of Hamiltonians at risk.
Backgrounder: Who speaks for Hamilton paramedics?
November 22, 2001 Nobody home at 911. The phones are ringing off the hook and every day there are fewer staff to answer them at Ontario’s ambulance dispatch centers. |
| Municipalities
decide the future of ambulance service |
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June 21, 2000 Regional and County governments in Ontario have until
September 3, 2000 to select who will be providing ambulance services in
their region or county on January 1, 2001. To date, about 21 of the 32
municipalities where OPSEU represents ambulance paramedics have
made their decisions. |
| Q & A's: Paramedics' rights and entitlements |
| With downloading, some ambulance services will
go out of business, while other services will win the contracts for an expanded service
area. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about paramedics' rights through
the downloading. Sept./99 |
| Toronto
Star Poll: Keep ambulance public |
| A summary of a
June 1999 Toronto
Star Poll |
| Ambulance
for the past 30 years: public, non-profit |
| An important message |
| Corporate
Profiles |
Laidlaw Inc.- .PDF
file (you must have Acrobat Reader)
Rural Metro Corporation- .PDF file |
| Forced
merger of fire and ambulance services in Edmonton |
| The forced merger in 1993
of Edmonton's fire and ambulance services resulted in tense labour relations. An
independent review reported on the tensions in May 1997. .PDF file-244 KB |
| Links |
| http://www.courant.com/news/library
The archives of the Hartford Courant newspaper in Connecticut. Look for Jan.18
article on private, for-profit ambulance conglomerate, American Medical Response. The
article's title: "Firm Puts Squeeze on 911 Service in Drive for Profits, AMR Whittles
Ambulance Standards". http://www.dhhs.gov./progorg/oei/reportindex.html
The search index of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office
of the Inspector General. Look under ambulance for a series of reports on the private,
for-profit companies driving up the cost of ambulance to medicare. |
Privatization
Issues Index | Ambulance
Division Index Page
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