Emergency personnel and local government are both breathing a huge sigh of relief as negotiations with Alberta Health Services over funding have finally wrapped up.
The deal will see AHS cover 86% the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority’s costs for ambulance services. The remaining 14% will be paid with fees from users. Â Negotiations had been ongoing over a period of years as costs for service steadily increased. This eventually led to the Fire Authority taking out over 180-thousand dollars in credit from the MD and town governments to keep running in the event that negotiations should draw out even further. Fortunately with this new deal inked, the municipal funding will not be needed, saving the Fire Authority major debt and the MD and town a significant chunk of their budgets.
The BRFA took over ambulance services from the town and MD in 2013. It quickly became apparent that AHS’s portion of the funding was not sufficient for the community’s needs and negotiations had been ongoing until now.