Manitoba gets two new emergency medical services stations

The province has opened two emergency medical services stations: one in Portage la Prairie and another in the small southern Manitoba community of Crystal City.

On Monday, Health Minister Audrey Gordon said the two EMS stations total $3.8 million, and will support enhanced emergency care to patients.

"This is a major upgrade to stations in rural Manitoba and demonstrates our commitment to build a more responsive, reliable, and sustainable EMS system in Southern Health-Santé Sud and across Manitoba," Gordon said in a news release.

The province said the new stations will be an operational hub for paramedics.

The station in Portage la Prairie includes a five-bay garage, offices, crew space, and training and meeting areas. It replaces the old station which operated out of a fire hall near Southport. The province said this is the fourth-busiest station in Manitoba, outside of Winnipeg, with staff responding to around 3,100 calls last year.

The second station is located in Crystal City, a community about 100 kilometres southwest of Portage la Prairie. The new station, which is 1,800 square feet, will give EMS staff a larger station and space for vehicles.

“The new station in Crystal City is a significant investment for now and for the future sustainability of this critical service in this area,” Alison Fijala, CEO of Rock Lake Health District, said in a news release.

“We are very appreciative to the province and Southern Health-Santé Sud for partnering to construct this modern and well-equipped station that will be advantageous for retention and recruitment of EMS professionals and is beneficial to so many people.”

Bob Moroz, president of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals (MAHCP), said the new stations don’t solve the problem of a lack of paramedics in rural Manitoba.

“The Manitoba Government seems to think they can replace some EMS stations and that will fix rural EMS. It won’t. Response times have been trending up due to lack of paramedics,” Moroz said in a statement.

Moroz added, “It’s bad news for rural Manitobans that this government has their head in the sand while the rural paramedic staffing crisis gets worse. They refuse to make any commitments to train and recruit more paramedics, and retain the ones we have, to make sure life-saving care is available to all Manitobans. We need a plan and action now.”