News Releases

News Release - Manitoba

September 16, 2020

Manitoba Government Investing in New Emergency Medical Services Station in Selkirk

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New Facility to Support Responsive, Reliable and Sustainable EMS System: Friesen

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SELKIRK—A new emergency medical services (EMS) facility will be constructed in Selkirk as part of Manitoba’s commitment to developing a flexible deployment model that ensures timely response to medical emergencies across the province, Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen announced here today.
 
“Manitoba is committed to ensuring high-quality emergency medical services are available to residents throughout our province,” said Friesen. “The construction of a new EMS facility in Selkirk will assist in our efforts to build a more responsive, reliable and sustainable EMS system throughout the Interlake–Eastern Regional Health Authority.”
 
The new EMS station will act as an operational home base for paramedics, who throughout their shift are repositioned using a globally recognized, flexible dispatch model that uses computer modelling and predictive deployment to ensure timely emergency response across the region. The new facility builds on the government’s commitment to enact recommendations made in the 2013 EMS System Review.
 
“Paramedics, administrative staff, fellow health-care workers and residents throughout the Interlake–Eastern Regional Health Authority (IERHA) will all benefit from this new facility,” said Ron Janzen, IERHA vice-president of corporate services and chief operating officer of Selkirk Regional Health Centre. “Work flow out of this station will be fundamentally enhanced to better support the delivery of emergency medical services regionally and provincially, and to better reflect the capabilities of paramedics and their quality of work.”
 
The new 7,500-sq.-ft. facility in Selkirk, to be constructed on a green-field site adjacent to the former Selkirk hospital, will include a six-bay garage, offices, crew quarters and space for paramedic training.
 
The total investment in the new facility is $4.2 million, the minister said, adding construction of the facility is expected to begin tomorrow by Three Way Builders, based out of Steinbach.
 
“From the moment an individual calls 911, emergency response services are mobilized to co-ordinate potentially life-saving response of medical services in a timely manner,” said Louise Alaire, regional director of EMS, Shared Health. “Investing in a new EMS station in Selkirk will provide staff with a larger, modern facility with space for training exercises, further bolstering the service provided to Manitobans living throughout the Interlake-Eastern region.”
 
Other recent investments and initiatives in emergency services provincewide include:
purchasing 65 new ambulances, which will represent a refresh of approximately one-third of the province’s overall fleet when delivered;
reducing ambulance fees in the past four years by approximately 50 per cent to $250, making emergency care more affordable and accessible; 
creating an additional 149.2 full-time equivalent (FTE) paramedic positions since 2016 including 35 FTE positions in the past year; and
declaring paramedicine to be a self-regulated profession.
 
For more information on emergency medical services in Manitoba, visit:
www.gov.mb.ca/health/ems/index.html and https://sharedhealthmb.ca/services/emergency-response/.
 
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ATTACHED



Backgrounder
Selkirk EMS Station facade - https://www.gov.mb.ca/asset_library/en/newslinks/2020/09/Selkirk_3D_-_colour.pdf
Selkirk EMS Station floor plan - https://www.gov.mb.ca/asset_library/en/newslinks/2020/09/Selkirk_EMS_Facility_-_Floor_Plan.pdf