A timeline of the Peel Paramedics divisional model

January 24, 2019 · 0 Comments

Written By KIRA WRONSKA DORWARD and JOSHUA SANTOS

This is the first article in a three-part investigative series exploring the adoption of a different version of the original 10-Year plan proposed in the Health Analytics report from 2007, the recommendations of which stated that a Hybrid Model should be adopted for Peel Region, advising that Caledon remain as-was with its Stand-Alone stations.

The Ten-Year Plan: A Chronology of Events

Regional Council adopted a Hybrid Model plan for paramedic and ambulance services in Peel Region in 2007. What this meant was that Brampton and Mississauga would operate on a Divisional Model, with six Reporting Stations and 16 Satellite Stations, while the rural parts of Peel, mainly Caledon, were to continue to operate with four Stand-Alone stations. This plan was created based on a report by a company made up of experts across North America, named Health Analytics, USA.

The purpose of the report was to provide an overview of the services provided by Health Analytics and the scope of analysis involved in the Paramedic Services Peel Master Plan project. The project itself was designed to cover the present and future needs for paramedic services in Peel and to provide a Capital Plan that would support the overall system direction. A final report with recommendations was submitted to the Emergency and Protective Services Committee (EPSC) on June 15, 2006. Mic Gunderson, president of Health Analytics, then informed the Committee that a final presentation and written report would be submitted for approval to Regional Council at its meeting on Au. 3, 2006.

In May of 2006, Caledon Regional Coun. Marolyn Morrison requested that Peter Dundas, chief and director of Paramedic Services, provide a breakdown of emergency response times, specifically for the town of Caledon at a future meeting, including an analysis of response times for when the two ambulances stationed in Caledon are already dispatched or occupied by offload delays at area hospitals. She also expressed concern about adequate coverage in Caledon because of its large geographic size.

The report states the following:

“The northern areas of the Region of Peel are much more rural and as a consequence of their low population density, there are relatively few ambulance calls. By choosing ambulance locations strictly in an effort to optimize response time interval statistics for the entire Region, these more rural areas would be left without consistent coverage…

With the frequent depletion of ambulances in the more urban areas, pulling ambulances out of the Caledon area has become all too common. This sets up two significant problems. Mutual aid is frequently required from neighboring EMS providers (Dufferin County and York EMS). Second, the citizens in the Caledon area have to wait much longer for ambulance service. Therefore, the hybrid model uses a flexible deployment strategy in the urban areas (Brampton and Mississauga) and uses a geographic coverage model for the Caledon area. The net result is that Caledon locations are placed much higher on the priority list of where available ambulances are positioned.

The advantages of the hybrid model include lower construction and operational costs than those associated with the fire station model. It offers a better quality of work-life for field crews than offered by the fluid deployment model.

The hybrid model uses the flexible deployment strategy in the urban areas (Brampton and Mississauga) and uses a geographic coverage model for the Caledon area. The net result of this is that Caledon locations are placed much higher on the priority list of where available ambulances are positioned.”

The 10-Year Plan in its original Hybrid Model is adopted by Regional Council in 2007

In October of 2006, copies of the Health Analytics report and presentation handouts were given to all members of the Regional Council, and a meeting was scheduled for the Feb. 22, 2007 to further discuss the recommendations of the Health Analytics report.

By that time the Union and Region staff reported back with an analysis of the recommendations of the report. All stakeholders (the City of Brampton, the City of Mississauga, and the Town of Caledon Fire and Emergency Services) would be included in the consultation process regarding Capital Planning and development of the Peel Regional Paramedic Services.

In a February meeting of Regional Council, it was moved that “as set out in the report of the Commissioner of Corporate Services and Regional Solicitor, dated Feb. 12, 2007, titled “Evaluation and Recommendations for Capital Planning and Development of the Peel Regional Paramedic Service – Feasibility Study”, be endorsed;

And further, that notwithstanding resolution 2006-1120, the Special Meeting of Regional Council proposed for the first quarter, 2007 to receive the Health Analytics Report Feasibility Study, be rescheduled to the end of the second quarter, 2007 to allow staff sufficient time to conduct the study, including receiving Stakeholder input.”

The Regional Council held a meeting on on June 7, 2007, where they received and approved the 10-Year Capital Facilities plan. At this meeting, Mississauga Coun. Patricia Mullin noted that Coun. Morrison had expressed concerns about the gaps in the paramedic deployment resulting from off-load delays as well as a deployment model for Caledon.

Janette Smith, commissioner of Health Services, undertook to follow up with Coun. Morrison regarding her concerns, and the Members of the Committee supported the following recommendation (RECOMMENDATION EPSC-9-2007):

“That a Divisional Model be adopted as the basis for development of EMS facilities in Mississauga and Brampton for the period 2008 to 2017; and further that the current Station-Based Model in Caledon be maintained.”

As of the end of June, Resolution 2007-833 was passed without change or commentary, and was bound by proceeding bylaw 67-2007:

RECOMMENDATION EPSC-9-2007:

That a Divisional Model be adopted as the basis for development of EMS facilities in Mississauga and Brampton for the period 2008 to 2017;

And further, that the current Station-Based Model in Caledon be maintained;

And further, that staff work with Finance to develop a 10-year capital plan for EMS facilities;

And further, that staff continue to investigate, with the appropriate municipal Fire Services or Peel Regional Police, EMS developments in the eight locations identified in Table 5 of the Feasibility Study Project: Facilities presentation.

Union Executive members Michael Speers and Carol Murray, who both have experience as superintendents with 20 and 27 years respectively (with Murrary working out of Caledon) were interviewed at the Jan. 12 information session held at the Caledon East Community Complex. They provided the documents referenced in this article.

“Overall, we felt it was a good plan- had it been followed, said Speers of the original plan as outlined above and approved in 2007. [The] Region of Peel Resolution #2007-833 authorized the start of a 10-year plan for Peel Paramedic Services based on a commissioned report by Health Analytics USA in Florida. They came and looked at our system and designed a system solely on the best way to service the Region of Peel.”

Changes made to the 10-Year Plan- without approval from Regional Council

“They approved a plan in 2007, said Speers. It’s a good plan for the region as a whole, made by experts from across North America. As per his own statement he (Peter Dundas) commenced changing it in 2008. We (the Union Executives) have continuously met with the politicians since 2008 and voiced our concerns with the Divisional Model. Anything that happened between 2007 and 2013 was never approved by Council (according to the Clerk).

“My concern is transparency and accountability, said Speers. The document trail of council indicates that the changes were commenced in 2008 by Dundas, a full five years before Council allegedly approved them.”

A November 2008 report entitled Paramedic Services- Facility Implementation Update, commissioned by Smith, is the first document that shows changes that have been made to the original 2007 plan. The cost remains projected at $45.1 million (although this would grow to exceed 100 million by 2016), but the four Stand-Alone stations approved the year before are now referred to as “Satellite Stations”- a change never approved or indeed put before Council. As an information-only report, these were in no way recommendations for amendments. That Caledon has four Satellite Stations is simply stated as fact.

By September of 2009, Coun. Mullin requested at a Regional Council Meeting on the 17th details on the divisional facilities model and inquired where the $45 million in capital funds would be invested, according to the minutes.

Peter Dundas responded that the divisional facilities model approved by Regional Council originally called for six Reporting Stations. He advised that program staff had reviewed the proposal and determined that four reporting stations would provide the required coverage.

“The change was the result of ongoing dialogue and direction from the Emergency and Protective Services Committee of Peel Regional Council to support alignment between deployment and facilities planning as call demand increased sharply, said Peter Dundas, chief and director of Paramedic Services in an email interview.

“The change allowed for increased efficiency without compromising paramedic coverage as reporting stations could support full-time logistic technicians who would clean, sanitize and stock ambulances. In a non-divisional model these tasks are performed by paramedics and keep them off the road. Paramedics in a divisional model have ambulances ready for them at the start of shift, in the case of mechanical breakdown or whenever a new ambulance is needed.”

The Regional Council Meeting on March 24, 2011 is a significant point in this sequence of events. It is at this meeting that Chief Peter Dundas changed the status of the Caledon stations from Stand-Alone facilities to Satellite Stations. There is no record of Council supporting this change to Resolution 2007-883. The Stand-Alone stations simply vanished. Dundas provided a PowerPoint presentation to the new incoming Council, entitled “Providing an Overview of Peel Regional Services- Orientation for the 2011-2014 Members of the Emergency and Protective Services Committee (EPSC).”

During this presentation, Coun. Morrison also inquired about the need for coverage in Caledon East. She stated that an ambulance always seems to be there which indicates to her that all other resources are tied up in Caledon. Peter Dundas said a satellite station will be built in Caledon East as part of the facility plan there, according to the minutes.

As of a Regional Council meeting on Sept. 15th, 2011, a Paramedic Services 10-Year Facility Report Plan Update was received. This report, dated Aug. 11, 2011, indicated planning for Satellite Stations in Caledon. As of that meeting, no changes to the original 2007 Hybrid Model plan had been approved by council.

A $1,135,000 construction tender to convert the existing Valleywood Stand-Alone station to a Satellite Station was enacted in 2012. Promotional material on the Region of Peel website notified the public that the satellite station at 2 Snelcrest Dr. would be open in the summer of 2013. Again, no changes to the Hybrid Model had been approved, which stated that Caledon’s four Stand-Alone stations, including Valleywood, would be left as Stand-Alone stations.

Dundas presented Valleywood to councillors as a Satellite Station, which was inconsistent with its status, as approved in 2007, as a Stand-Alone. The construction tender was approved by Regional Council in 2011 under the misunderstanding that Valleywood was a Satellite Station.

Further, a Sept. 20th update to the 10-Year Facility Plan was received by Council. This report dated Aug. 1, 2012 clearly refers to Caledon as having only satellite stations, according to the minutes.

It must be reiterated that Council had never approved changes to convert Caledon’s stand-alone stations to satellite.

The series continues in the Jan. 31 issue of the Caledon Citizen.