Paramedic services in Frontenac County are getting a significant financial boost.
The new $1M in funding approved by county council will be used to hire eight new full-time Paramedics to staff two new 12-hour ambulance crew shifts stationed in the City of Kingston.
“There’s a lot of demand for Paramedics’ time across the County,” Frontenac County Warden Ron Vandewal said. “We have to do more with less spending power this year but people’s health is the most important thing. Having more paramedics on the road in the city will help to reduce the number of times paramedics stationed in rural areas are called to Kingston.”
County officials expect the demand for services in the City of Kingston to increase by 3.8 percent per year until 2029 as the city population grows older, however, it’s actually increased by five percent each of the past two years.
“These much-needed new resources will help ensure that we are able to continue to maintain the high standard of patient care we’ve promised,” Frontenac Paramedics Chief Gale Chevalier said. “I want to thank members of Frontenac County Council and their funding partners for supporting this plan, especially during this year of such difficult financial choices.”
The new resources are in addition to the new $3-million paramedics station planned for construction later this year on the Frontenac County campus in Glenburnie. When complete, the new station will help to address paramedic response times where demand is high in the Rideau Heights and Montreal St. areas of Kingston, the Highway 401 corridor, and the rapidly developing areas of The Township of South Frontenac.
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