If there had been a vote for Most Unpopular, David Fan, the CEO of the Prairie North Health Region (PNHR) would have won hands down, at the informational meeting held on Monday, Aug. 23 in the Neilburg Community Hall.
Fan, and the PNHR board, decided several months ago while undergoing budget discussions, that they would cease operation of the Neilburg local ambulance service as a cost cutting measure, as of Sept. 1. The Villages of Neilburg and Marsden were notified in June, as were the Rural Municipalities of Hillsdale and Manitou Lake. In addition, laboratory hours and X-ray services at the Manitou Health Clinic are scheduled to be cut as of Oct. 1.
The citizens of the Neilburg and Marsden area, however, were not content to agree to these cuts without putting up a valiant fight. They have written "Letters to the Editor," signed petitions and expressed their disapproval of this decision. Finally, Monday evening, they told Fan and Bonnie O'Grady, Chairperson of the PNHR, as well as several other board members, exactly how they felt.
Fan gave an initial powerpoint presentation to try to justify the cuts. He cited financial constraints due to funding cuts from the Ministry of Health, low usage and difficulty in keeping the volunteer staff "up to snuff" on their training/education. Fan also noted that approximately 41 per cent of the Saskatchewan provincial budget is currently spent on health care and that Prairie North had a projected funding shortfall of $5 million. Maps were handed out - both from the PNHR and the two Villages and the two RMs. The PNHR map showed potential coverage areas and how ambulances would come to Neilburg from Cut Knife and to Marsden from Lloydminster. Other rural areas would purportedly receive coverage from Heartland Ambulance Service out of Unity, Chauvin Ambulance Service and Maidstone Ambulance Service.
The second map, compiled by the Villages and RMs showed several coloured circles around each centre where ambulances would be located and many white patches where coverage would not fall within distance guidelines. On the opposite side of the page, another colourful circle diagram showed the current coverage with the Neilburg ambulance in play.
Fan claimed that recently the Neilburg ambulance had been out on a call, and so the Cut Knife ambulance had to come to the village to transport someone to hospital. He stated that, on that occasion, the Cut Knife crew arrived here in just 22 minutes. However, this was in summer with clear roads and no difficult weather conditions and also within the daytime hours when the Cut Knife ambulance is fully staffed and the employees are sitting on stand-by waiting for a call out.
After Fan presented the facts, as he saw them, the floor was opened to questions. Countless citizens got up to ask questions and to share their own experiences with the ambulance and laboratory at the clinic. Most comments were directed toward the ambulance cuts as that was seen to be the most dire decision proposed to be implemented.
The Neilburg Ambulance service costs approximately $117,000 to operate each year. By ceasing operations PNHR believes they will save approximately $75,000, as they plan to re-invest some monies into strengthening the Cut Knife ambulance service.
Many noted that a life was worth far more than $75,000 and if this cut IS implemented, it will only be a matter of time until someone loses their life due to difficulty in obtaining swift medical assistance and transport by ambulance to the nearest hospital. It was also noted outside ambulance personnel are not as aware of the back roads and oil lease roads and would find it extremely difficult to find someone if given a sketchy description of an accident location whereas local ambulance personnel would have a better idea of who lives where and which road would take the medical response team to the victim the fastest.
Joanne Marshall shared how, as a young mother, her infant encountered breathing problems and her son's life was saved thanks in part to a prompt local ambulance service.At the conclusion of her dramatic story, she introduced her now 10-year old son, Wyatt to all those in attendance. It was a moving illustration of how the existence of a local ambulance service can save a life and keep a young family together.Bob Walde got up to the microphone and emotionally expressed his thanks to the Neilburg ambulance personnel, as without their assistance, when his wife had a very serious accident several years ago, he would have been a widower. Another man got up and shared a story of how his friend was snowmobiling and ran into trouble and was saved by the ambulance service. He is now paralyzed but got married recently from his wheelchair. So many lives would have been drastically different were it not for the dedication of the volunteers who operate the Neilburg ambulance service.
Some asked pointed questions about the take home salary of Fan and O'Grady and demanded to know what particular services they provided to the local community for the large chunk of money that they take out of the Health Region's budget each year. Others noted that people within the ambulance service in Wainwright and Chauvin had not yet been notified of the pending changes that were to happen nine days from the meeting.
It was asked if the board would consider giving an extra one-month grace period before implementing any changes so other options, to keep the service, could be explored. Chairperson O'Grady would not commit herself to that type of an extension but she did note she could definitely ask for one at the board meeting scheduled to be held on Wednesday, Aug. 25. She stated the things discussed at the meeting that evening would be shared with all board members and a decision would be relayed to the Village Councils and the RM administrators by Thursday.
