Lifeflight’s air ambulance services will be given to STARS starting in December.
Shared Health CEO Brock Wright made the announcement yesterday saying Shared Health is expanding its partnership with STARS as a part of sustained efforts to provide reliable, high-quality Lifeflight services for Manitobans.
“Critical care medical air services are relied upon by rural and northern health care providers and Manitoba patients in need of specialized and emergency medical care, which often requires air ambulance transport to larger health centres in Winnipeg. Reliability of this life-saving service on a 24/7 basis has been – and remains — a top priority.”
For the past two years, critical care medical air services have been provided by a combination of Shared Health, Lifeflight, and STARS. STARS also has partnered with Shared Health to ensure the availability of fixed-wing services during periods of staffing vacancy or unfilled shift coverage.
In July 2018, the province issued a request for proposals to privatize the LIfelight services. That created a situation where some Lifeflight staff threatened to quit or last year, where some Lifeflight doctors refused to board the privatized planes due to safety concerns.
STARS will assume the responsibilities no sooner than December 10th, 2020, but until then, Lifeflight staff and physicians will continue to provide the service to ensure a safe transition with no negative impacts on patient care.
Oversight for quality, patient safety, financials and other service areas will be the responsibility of a joint operations committee made up of Shared Health and STARS clinical and administrative leads. The agreement is in place until March 2022.
Access to the service won’t change. STARS will use both helicopters and airplanes for the transport of adult patients. Shared Health staff will continue to perform pediatric and neonatal transports as well as out of province transports.
Affected staff and their unions have been informed of the operational decision. Details of a labour adjustment will be worked out with the respective unions in the weeks ahead, with opportunities to be provided to all affected staff.
