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Patients in danger

By Rick Pusiak The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) claims Sudbury Regional Hospital is putting lives in jeopardy by transporting patients with a Toronto-based contractor.
By Rick Pusiak

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) claims Sudbury Regional Hospital is putting lives in jeopardy by transporting patients with a Toronto-based contractor.

A firm called Ambu-Trans was recently hired on a seven-day trail basis to provide a driver, two attendants and a vehicle that closely resembles an ambulance.

The service was reviewed by hospital officials this week and a decision was made to continue the contract on a weekly basis.

The Toronto crew is only being used to transport stable patients.

But according to OPSEU, the vehicle being used is not a certified emergency vehicle and does not meet standards set out in the Ambulance Act.

"The SRHC (Sudbury Regional Hospital Corporation) has seen fit to hire out-of-town carriers to skirt an essential services agreement approved and put in place by the provincial government in anticipation of the current dispute with its civil servants," said OPSEU staff representative Denis Boyer.

"They look and feel like ambulances, but they are not equipped to handle potential emergencies that often occur even in the most routine transfers."

The hospital doesn't agree as has stated that as far as ambulance services go only dispatch services are affected by the OPSEU strike.

And as detailed in an essential services agreement, dispatch workers on duty only handle "serious" calls.

The hospital's vice-president of clinical programs, David McNeil, said the firm was hired to handle stable stretcher patients who need to be transferred home, between hospital sites or back to an ascending facility like a nursing home that does'?t fall within the criteria set out in the essential services agreement.

The Toronto vehicle and crew is helping to ensure the ongoing continuity of patient flow through the hospital system, said McNeil.

"They have appropriate training for the work that they're doing," said McNeil.

He added the vehicles are equipped to manage the types of patients they're transporting.

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