Martensville Mayor Kent Muench welcomed the announcement on November 6 that his city will be the base for a Medavie Health Services West ambulance service, staffed by two paramedics, in the region north of Saskatoon.
Additional funding was committed by the Government of Saskatchewan this past budget to enhance emergency medical services in Saskatchewan to the amount of $6.57 million. SHA will be provided $1.16 million annually to support the Martensville-based EMS.
This past year, the SHA commenced internal and external stakeholder consultation and review of potential sites for a new base to serve the north Corman Park area. This area included the communities of Martensville, Warman, Osler, Dalmeny, Langham, and Borden.
Mayor Muench noted, “We are pleased to have our community announced as the new base for the Medavie Health Services West. This base will serve an important role in serving this region and improving ambulance emergency response times in a region that is growing, will continue to grow, and is a hub of economic activity in the province.”
Muench also saw the addition of the service as a great compliment to local Fire Departments and Police, “The emergency responders that serve the communities in this region provide service with great professionalism and care and this announcement will help provide great reinforcement to the work they already do in our communities.”
The Ministry of Health and Saskatchewan Health Authority cited Martensville’s more central location to the population of the region.
“We do believe we have a great location for EMS Service because we are connected well to this region and neighboring communities,” said Muench,”This fits with the provincial closest ambulance response protocols.
The City of Martensville hopes this bodes well for the future.
Muench is optimistic this can assist further efforts around health services,.
“We hope this announcement will serve as a success and precursor to seeing additional health-related services to look to our community and region as a viable base and a valuable way of bringing these important services out to the people and being such a vital part to our communities,” he said. “We look forward to seeing operations commence and building a long-term relationship with Medavie EMS.”
The City of Martensville would like to thank and acknowledge the Ministry of Health, the Saskatchewan Health Authority, and all stakeholders that put careful consideration into this decision.
New EMS services are expected to commence in November with a 12 hour/day commitment. In March an additional 12 hours/day funding will begin in March 2022.