A number of private ambulance providers have had their funding halted by the government due to the late signing of contracts.
Tory Health Critic David Brazil asked Health Minister John Haggie during question period Thursday about whether he was aware of a private ambulance company not receiving funding over the previous month.
Brazil says he heard of two ambulance operators not receiving funding in the last month, causing concern from local operators in eastern and central Newfoundland.
Since they were still providing a service, they should be paid, Brazil said.
“There’s been a month since the signing happened and there would be no reason to hold back any payment to the providers. They’ve been providing the service,” he told reporters outside the House of Assembly.
“There are some who have been concerned about this. They had payrolls to meet, they have payments on their vehicles, they have training they’re responsible for and yet their pay is not coming in.”
Brazil says it’s a situation the department was not acting on.
“I think the minister just wasn’t aware. He hadn’t been briefed,” he said.
Health Minister John Haggie similarly characterized the situation, which he says was all sorted out a few hours previously.
“The ambulance contracts were renewed and re-signed. For those operators who have been late signing, obviously, no legal authority existed to release the money. As of this morning, literally in the last two hours, all the operators have signed and all the block fund is flowing,” said Haggie.
“These signatures are legally required. We’re buying the service and unless there’s a contract, money can’t flow.”
The situation comes at a touchy time for the private ambulance industry in the province.
A top-to-bottom examination of the private ambulance service is underway across the province, with Haggie wishing to completely reimagine the model.
Haggie says private ambulance operators will be consulted throughout the change, but there could be a more regionalized service as a result of the examination.
That also leaves some private ambulance operators to wonder if potential changes could change their business model – or even shut it down.
Haggie says the deliberations are too early to think about any potential impacts, but he’ll do his best to help the small businesses.
“We have a blank sheet of paper as far as what a design would look like for the service,” said Haggie.
“We want to see what they feel would work best so we can maintain small business is in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, if that’s a feasible thing to do.”
There is also the chance of upcoming strike votes in the coming weeks for the Transport and Allies Local Union 885, which had called on Haggie to act on the month’s lack of funding.
On top of that, auditors with Grant Thornton will soon be brought in to monitor private ambulance operators on an individual basis, after a Grant Thornton report found misuse of government funds by some private ambulance operators.
New Democratic Party Leader Gerry Rogers says enough study of the industry has been done, and more consultation isn’t needed.
“There has been so much study done. There has been a lot of consultation. There’s been a lot of money spent to get to the point of making very concrete suggestions, recommendations, and here we are, they haven’t’ been followed,” she said.
Twitter: @DavidMaherNL
