Social Services planning takeover of city ambulance service

If the plan goes through, all EMS employees hired through the city will become DSSMSSAB workers. This won't save money. In fact, it'll cost $16,999 a year more

DSSMSSAB says the city's administration of emergency medical services has been effective and efficient. But DSSMSSAB wants to run EMS directly for governance and accountability considerations. File photo by Jeff Klassen/SooToday

City ambulance jobs will be transferred to District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board under a proposal to be considered this week by the social services board.

If the change is approved, it will end a 17-year-old arrangement under which the City of Sault Ste. Marie has provided emergency medical services (EMS) under contract to DSSMSSAB (Social Services).

Effective Jan. 1, DSSMSSAB would become directly and solely responsible for EMS operational oversight, day-to-day operations, resource deployment and financial reporting.

Directly operating EMS won't save DSSMSSAB any money.

In fact, it will cost $16,999 a year in additional levy funding.

"The city operates the service very effectively and efficiently and management cannot identify any operational reasons why the model should be changed. They should be thanked for their efforts and service to date," acknowledges Mike Nadeau, DSSMSSAB's chief administrative officer.

However, Nadeau wants EMS to be directly operated by DSSMSSAB for governance and accountability reasons.

The history of Sault Ste. Marie's ambulance services over the past two decades has been complicated:

in March, 2000, DSSMSSAB was named the designated delivery agent for land ambulance emergency medical services in Sault Ste. Marie
DSSMSSAB initially approved continuation of an existing contract with Sault Area Hospital until it could decide on a long-term service provider
City of Sault Ste. Marie won a competitive request-for-proposals process and became DSSMSSAB's service delivery contractor effective April 1, 2002
in December, 2009, services to Garden River First Nation began under an agreement with the Ontario government
on Oct. 7, 2015 DSSMSSAB agreed to terminate its contracts with the City of Sault Ste. Marie for administration of all DSSMSSAB programming
on March 30, 2016 DSSMSSAB's board directed newly appointed CAO Mike Nadeau to prepare a report on making an exception for EMS, including a cost comparison, benefit analysis and service-level management considerations
on April 21, 2016 Sault Ste. Marie's fire chief submitted a proposal to DSSMSSAB regarding provision of emergency medical services
on May 2, 2016 DSSMSSAB received a legal opinion on the fire chief's proposal
on May 19, 2016 DSSMSSAB passed a resolution directing its staff to start negotiating a new EMS service contract with the city
on Sept. 15, 2016 DSSMSSAB agreed to enter into a new agreement with the city for delivery of land ambulance EMS from Sept. 25, 2016 to Dec. 31, 2018
on June 21, 2018 DSSMSSAB passed a resolution to extending the EMS operator contract with the city until Dec. 31, 2019
on April 26, 2019 DSSMSSAB directed its CAO to advise the city's CAO that, although it was satisfied with the service, DSSMSSAB didn't intend to renew its EMS service contract after Dec. 31, 2019 in an effort to strengthen DSSMSSAB's governance and accountability frameworks

What are the governance and accountability considerations that led DSSMSSAB to back out of its EMS arrangement with the city?

On governance, Nadeau says DSSMSSAB obtained a legal opinion four years ago that contracting out EMS services exposes it to unspecified risks.

"It is my opinion that the risks identified on May 6, 2015 have been reduced with the hiring of a contract compliance manager. However, they have not been eliminated and still exist in the current contracted EMS model," he says.

As for accountability, he says it's sometimes hard for DSSMSSAB to get timely access to financial and human resources information demanded by the provincial Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

'DSSMSSAB social services operations had its draft budget prepared in November. The contracted agency was asked to meet the same deadline but the EMS budget was not received until February," Nadeau said in a written report to his board of directors.

"The above examples are not provided as a deficiency of the contracted agency. Rather they should be viewed as a deficiency in a contracted service model. EMS is viewed and treated as a division of the city and the pressures and needs of the DSSMSSAB in relation to reporting, forecasting etc. are not well understood, nor can this be expected."

The following is a joint news release issued today by DSSMSSAB and City of Sault Ste. Marie.

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District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board continues to strengthen governance and accountability with the direct provision of services

The District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board (DSSMSSAB) continues to strengthen its board governance and effectiveness, moving from a contracted-services organization structure to a direct employment structure.

Because of this restructuring initiative, the DSSMSSAB will address the direct delivery of emergency medical services (EMS) at their Thursday, May 16meeting.

If agreed upon, the DSSMSSAB will notify the City of Sault Ste. Marie that they will no longer be contracting with the corporation to provide emergency medical services (EMS) on their behalf.

With the assumption of the direct delivery of emergency medical services, the District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board will be solely responsible for operational oversite, day-to-day operations, resource deployment and financial reporting for this service.

The changes in the organizational structure will have little impact on local taxpayers and emergency medical services users will not be affected by this transition.

There will be no disruption to service.

The focus of this transition is the staff and management personnel providing DSSAB-mandated work.

All employees hired through the City of Sault Ste. Marie will become DSSMSSAB workers.

“We are grateful to the EMS team for their passion and commitment to our city. The valued service they provide is challenging and demanding at times and we thank them for bringing their best efforts to work daily. We respect the decision of the DSSMSSAB and will continue to work with them to ensure a seamless transition with no impact on service,” says Al Horsman, chief administrative officer, City of Sault Ste. Marie.

The DSSMSSAB will work in conjunction with the City of Sault Ste. Marie human resources department as well as Unifor Local 1359 representatives in an effort to maintain current union contracts, seniority, benefits and pensions.

District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services board vice chair, Janet Gawne expressed her appreciation to the City of Sault Ste. Marie.

“The DSSMSSAB would like to acknowledge the positive relationship we have had with the City of Sault Ste. Marie and thank them for their contributions as a partner. Thank you to the City of Sault Ste. Marie for providing close to 20 years of EMS service. We look forward to continuing to provide high level service to our community.”

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