Merritt is gaining one new full-time ambulance and seven net new 24/7 paramedic positions, thanks to a new collective agreement and unionized contract for paramedics in the province, which will see up to 32 new paramedics in the TNRD.
According to Paul Vallely, Senior Provincial Executive Director for Patient Care Delivery for BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS), who is responsible for all paramedics in the province, the new agreement will introduce a new staffing model for rural and remote communities.
This new staffing model will be referred to as ‘scheduled on call’ (SOC), “Which aims to provide rural and remote communities with permanent, regular jobs for paramedics with guaranteed wages including health and wellness benefits.”
Currently, BCEHS relies on on-call paramedic staffing in rural and remote communities for ambulance service. These paramedics are paid on the basis of the number of call outs they attend, such as emergencies or patient transfers, with a stipend of just $2/hour for every hour that they are on call. If they receive no call outs during their on-call time, they will not receive anything more than the stipend.
Vallely, himself a former paramedic from the community of Clinton, said that this has resulted in difficulties in paramedic recruitment and retention, as many will leave smaller communities for larger centres where there is a greater guarantee of regular call outs. Paramedics may also hold multiple jobs, reducing their availability, or leave the profession entirely as they aren’t able to make a livable wage under the current staffing model. Vallely refers to this as “paramedic migration”.
Under the SOC model, paramedics will be guaranteed work and pay of approximately $32/hour for eight hours per day. During this time, they will respond to calls as necessary, and for the remaining 16 hours of their scheduled days, they will be on call. Any paramedic exceeding eight hours per day will also receive overtime pay, as outlined in the BC Labour Relations Code.
Vallely believes these changes will result in improved service for communities, and also solve the long-standing issue of paramedic recruitment and retention. It will also result in additional positions being added to the Community Paramedicine program, in which paramedics help to bridge health service delivery gaps and assist aging populations living with complex or chronic conditions.
Merritt Mayor Linda Brown, whose community has seen an increase in population as well as being situated in a critical position at the centre of several major highways, was pleased that the new staffing model would provide additional resources to Merritt.
“I think this is a far better system from where we came from and I think it does enhance recruitment and retention in some kind of manner,” said Brown, who hopes to see the program expanded to include a position of 1.0 FTE as opposed to the currently proposed 0.75 FTE, something Vallely agreed would be a priority in future.
The roll-out for the new and improved SOC model is on track for Nov. 2021, after which, for the first time across BC, there will be at least one permanent paramedic position in every community where BCEHS has services established.
