The Board and management of Badlands Ambulance Services Society have announced they are divesting the operation of the local ambulance service, turning it over to Alberta Health Services (AHS).
They made the announcement following an emergency meeting on Thursday, October 4. Ambulance service will continue in the area, only in the future it will not be the Society operating the service.
“After a year of discussing with AHS, it was decided that with all the budgetary restrictions that were to be a part of the five year contract as well as the added issue of our staff voting to become a union shop with Health Sciences Association of Alberta, the board came to this disappointing decision,” said a press release from the Society signed by chairman Ben Armstrong.
“Your board, along with the administration feel that the advanced service that you, our customers, have become used to could not be maintained with the budgetary restrictions that would be in place upon signing a new ‘not for profit’ contract with AHS.”
The board assures that services will not be uninterrupted during the transition, which could take up to six months to complete.
“We are committed to work with AHS to ensure a smooth transition, into either a direct services by AHS or a ‘for profit,’ either of which could take up to six moths to complete.
The Badlands Ambulance Services Society has been operating the service since 2006.
