A dash of politics in new ambulance plan

Jeff Green | Jan 21, 2010

Editorial by Jeff Green

It seemed like it was only a matter of time before Frontenac County Emergency Services Manager Paul Charbonneau and the Council of North Frontenac Township would end up at loggerheads over the location of a new ambulance base to serve people in the northern part of Frontenac County.

Lennox and Addington County has recently confirmed they will be maintaining a 24-hour ambulance based in Northbrook and a 24-hour ambulance based in Denbigh. Until recently, Charbonneau had been advising that the best option for a new Frontenac County base is the intersection of Ardoch Road and Hwy. 509 in Central Frontenac. His position was supported by a consultant’s report and statistical information about call locations, volumes, and average response times.

North Frontenac rejected Charbonneau’s position, and called his statistics into doubt. When the matter was floated at Frontenac County Council in the fall, it appeared that the council did not want to pick a fight with North Frontenac over the matter.

Now, Paul Charbonneau has come up with what appears to be a rather elegant solution to the problem, although the people in Parham and Kingston City Council may have something to say about it.

In a report that is being presented to county council this week, Charbonneau is proposing to build not one, but two new bases, one in Sharbot Lake at a cost of $750,000, and one Ompah which will be co-located with a new Ompah fire hall, and will cost $300,000. This solution would bring response times to within the 30-minute framework, the standard for rural ambulance service, throughout the county.

With a new base coming in Sydenham, moving the current ambulance base in Parham about 15 minutes to the north becomes a viable option, and politicians will be happy because there will be a shiny new base in each of the townships.

That’s something to run for re-election on.

But there are political and financial complications.

While overall response times would be improved throughout the county under this plan, the residents in the Parham and Godfrey regions are not going to be pleased because response times to them will increase. Frontenac County has also spent money upgrading the Parham base over the past few years, and they will be abandoning a perfectly adequate facility.

All of these factors may cause Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski to face some flak if she supports this plan, which is never a good thing for a mayor who is running for re-election.

Then there is the cost, and that is where the City of Kingston comes in. Ratepayers from the City of Kingston pay for 81% of the ambulance budget.

The new plan would cost over $1.05 million to bring about, more than $800,000 of which would be levied to the City of Kingston.

The original consultant’s report allocated $750,000 to a new northern base at the Ardoch Road. The new plan, allocating that amount to a new base in Sharbot Lake, is really only $300,000 more expensive, the amount necessary to co-locate a new base in Ompah with a new fire department there.

The ratepayers from the City of Kingston would pay $240,000 towards that and Frontenac County ratepayers the other $60,000.

If Frontenac County Council gets behind this plan, it will all have to be raised at the Rural Urban Liaison Committee, (RULAC) which is made up of politicians from the City of Kingston and Frontenac County.

Even though this solution is not included in the consultant’s report into ambulance service, there is some pretty good supporting evidence that it would be a good operational plan for Frontenac County, and although it involves substantial capital spending, it would have no immediate impact on the operational side of the ambulance budget.

RULAC has already approved a new 24-hour ambulance for the Sydenham base that is being built this year.

This northern solution calls for a 24-hour ambulance in Sharbot Lake and a 12-hour ambulance in Ompah, the same amount of service, and cost, as the current system.