APH Chief weighs in on funding cuts to integrated Fire-EMS

SPRUCE GROVE -- The Managing Director of Alta Paramedic Health -- formerly EHS Alberta -- says funding cuts to local integrated Fire-EMS services are about reducing the financial burden to provincial taxpayers.

According to APH Managing Director and Chief Les Fischer, continuing the current integrated model at the same cost would force taxpayers across the province to pay more for a service that's only offered in a handful of communities.

"It's really about standardizing funding, and making sure that we have a consistent level of funding across the province for services that are being provided," said Fischer in conversation with 88.1 The One. "And that we don't have provincial taxpayers subsidizing local municipal choices in terms of their delivery model." 

This comes after Elliott Davis, President of the Alberta Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics Association, said that the province has yet to prove that the integrated Fire-EMS service is a more costly model. Currently, seven municipalities in Alberta operate an integrated fire-EMS model where firefighters are also trained paramedics. These are Spruce Grove, Red Deer, St. Albert, Strathcona County, Leduc, Lethbridge, and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.

Spruce Grove will be transitioning away from the integrated model after their provincial contract expires on Sept. 30.