Riverside leases ambulance garage to DSSAB

FORT FRANCESE—With construction plans for its new ambulance garage a little behind schedule, the Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board has obtained permission from Riverside Health Care Facilities, Inc. to use its garage temporarily.
“Riverside has agreed to let us use the existing ambulance base until the end of March,” said DSSAB CAO Donna Dittaro.
Last January, DSSAB announced it would assume direct operating responsibility for land ambulance services in the district, rather than renew its contracts with Riverside and Atikokan General Hospital, in an effort to control costs and provide uniform service.
Those contracts are set to expire Dec. 31, at which time the DSSAB will take over.
DSSAB had stressed at the time the change to a direct delivery model would not affect the level of service.
“Residents in our district can continue to rely on the continued availability and responsiveness of the Emergency Medical System [EMS],” it said in a statement in January.
DSSAB has purchased the building at 801 Scott St. (the former Fort Frances Bingo Hall) to act as the new ambulance garage, but renovations will not be completed by Jan. 1.
Instead, it will lease the existing ambulance garage from Riverside while it continues work on the new one. DSSAB also is in negotiations to lease the Emo garage for a period of two years.
The ambulance garage in Rainy River is being sold to DSSAB.
“It’s not on hospital property, so we can sell it outright,” Riverside CEO Wayne Woods said of its ambulance garage here.
Riverside also has agreed to provide laundry and biomedical services for land ambulance, as well as patient drugs.
Riverside has not yet decided what it will do with the existing ambulance garage once its contract with DSSAB expires.
“Certainly we’re always looking for storage space and program space. We’ll make good use of it,” Woods said.
The paramedics working for Riverside and Atikokan General Hospital were represented by two different unions. The ones here were represented by CUPE while those in Atikokan were represented by the CAW.
The paramedics recently had a vote to choose which would represent them as a single unit working for the DSSAB.
“They voted for CUPE,” Dittaro said.
The board appointed Michael Lewis, who represents the unorganized areas of Rainy River District East, to sit on the negotiating committee.
That committee is scheduled to meet today (Nov. 29) with CUPE representatives “to deal with the transition,” Dittaro said.
“You’re trying to combine the CAW contract and the CUPE contract,” she noted.
(Fort Frances Times)