Air Ambulance decision still not flying with region or Opposition

Marshall Dean, MHA for the District of The Straits-White Bay North and Opposition Leader Yvonne Jones say the decision to move the air ambulance out of St. Anthony has been flawed since the start and the people of the region deserve the decency of the decision to be grounded until they personally share their concerns with either the health minister and/or the premier. 

The two MHAs again questioned the minister in the Legislature today while residents of the St. Anthony area, who participated in an earlier protest in front of the Confederation Building, sat in the public gallery.   MHA Dean also presented a Private Members Motion in the House of Assembly calling on government to put the decision on hold until a more comprehensive analysis and consultation has taken place.

“The decision is based on a study that does not encompass the full air medevac service for the province, nor does it look at the response times to every region of the province including the West Coast of the island,” says Jones.   “Government is also failing to respond to the recommendations prepared by front-line staff at the Labrador-Grenfell Health Board who are also concerned about the poorly-informed decision.”

MHA Dean points out, as well, that the decision was not examined from a rural impact perspective, a mandatory analysis that is required of all government policies. “Government has failed to live up to its own standards that were put in place to safeguard the interests and concerns of rural regions.   And if a proper analysis of air ambulance service, either from a provincial perspective or from a Labrador-Grenfell region were carried out, then it would identify the significant gaps that still exist in the service.

The Opposition MHAs also requested that the minister and the premier meet with the delegation from St. Anthony to hear their concerns, but neither would make themselves available to the residents of northern Newfoundland who feel betrayed by this decision.

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