The Sudbury Regional Hospital is putting the lives of local patients in jeopardy by transporting patients with a Toronto-based transfer contractor.
The vehicles are not bona fide emergency vehicles and do not meet standards set out in the Ambulance Act. Furthermore, there is some question as to the drivers’ qualifications as paramedics.
“The SRHC has seen fit to hire out-of-town carriers to skirt an essential services agreement approved and put in place by the provincial government in anticipation of the current dispute with its civil servants,” said Denis Boyer, staff representative, Ontario Public Service Employees Union. “They look and feel like ambulances but they are not equipped to handle potential emergencies that often occur even in the most routine transfers.”
Carriers like this are currently facing lawsuits in other jurisdictions as a direct result of their inability to provide proper patient care.
“Please do not confuse this taxi service with the professional paramedic service Sudburians expect and deserve,” said Darryl Taylor, Advanced Care Paramedic, Canadian Union of Public Employees. “We currently provide a high level of service, not the taxi-with-a-stretcher farce they are attempting to pass off on the public.”
The SRHC has hired a Toronto-based firm to ferry patients between hospitals.
“We foresee this is an attempt to replace local emergency professionals with under-qualified, inexperienced help,” said Boyer. “We wonder if the those southern workers and their company will contribute and support the Sudbury Regional Hospital’s various fundraising campaigns with the same enthusiasm as local citizens.”
