The province’s health minister hasn’t ruled out a dedicated ambulance service for Pasadena, though more study of the need has to be done before any such decision is made.
Last week, Pasadena Mayor Gary Bishop told The Western Star of a meeting he and town manager Brian Hudson had with Health and Community Services Minister John Haggie about 911 and ambulance services in the town.
Bishop said the town has concerns about the response times for emergency calls, asserting it sometimes takes longer than the provincial average of 15-20 minutes for ambulances to respond to Pasadena.
Related stories:
The mayor added the town’s population has been growing in recent years, which he felt is all the more reason to have an ambulance service located in Pasadena.
In an interview earlier this week, Haggie told The Western Star his department first needed to check with the Department of Municipal Affairs and Environment which administers the province’s 911 system.
Haggie said he has also encouraged the town to approach Municipal Affairs and Environment Minister Eddie Joyce about any concerns about the dispatching of emergency services.
Haggie said he would also be checking with Western Health to determine the call volume, the nature of the calls and the response times for emergency calls made from Pasadena.
Haggie said his department is conscious of the fact populations can change and would be looking to see if any changes to how 911 service is administered to Pasadena are warranted.
“If there is a strong case to be made, that is certainly something we would look at very seriously for them,” said Haggie
The minister noted the province is in the final stages of completing an audit of private ambulance services and already has one done for ambulances operated by the regional health authorities.
The results of those audits would also help provide better context for Pasadena’s situation, said Haggie.
The Western Star requested an interview with Joyce, but the minister was not made available as of deadline Wednesday.
