THE NORTHERN Health Authority is going to stick with using the provincial ambulance service to move patients who don't need urgent care back and forth between its facilities.
It had been looking for another transport service but attempts to cut a deal with two shortlisted parties didn't pan out, says Finlay Sinclair,
authority official in charge of the effort for the hospital.
“Basically we couldn't make the business case work,” said Sinclair.
The attempt was aimed at finding a way that was less expensive and not having to rely on paramedics using ambulances best suited for their original roles of providing emergency services.
A classic scenario in Terrace might be transporting a Terraceview Lodge resident to Mills Memorial Hospital for tests and then returning the person to the lodge.
Health authorities elsewhere have had success in lining up companies to transport patients but they've had the benefit of a larger
population base and not as much distance between facilities.
“We will keep using the ambulance service but we will develop a new relationship with them,” said Sinclair.
“What that new relationship would be is a new way of transporting people. Right now it is one patient – one ambulance,” said Sinclair.
It’s a matter of how can we continue a service and move people more efficiently who are on the low acuity side.”
One possibility worth examining is arranging to transport more than one person at a time, thus reducing the number of trips and the time it takes by moving one person at a time, said Finlay.
The Northern Health Authority is looking at ways to lower overall costs without comprimising patient care.