WECHU CEO says talks are underway to address a critical ambulance shortage
'There's no doubt in my mind that collectively we will ... have a solution,' says Dr. Ken Blanchette
Discussions are taking place to address the emergency ambulance shortage with the EMS service in Windsor-Essex, says the new leader of the local health unit.
"There's no doubt in my mind that collectively we will ... have a solution," said Dr. Ken Blanchette, CEO of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.
"We will have some implementation hopefully within the next few days and then we can navigate through this. So we're looking at short-term solutions, medium-range solutions and long-term solutions."
The health unit is one of the health-care agencies participating in talks to address what officials are calling a crisis in access to ambulances.
Blanchette declined to comment further on what those solutions might be, saying that Essex-Windsor EMS chief Bruce Krauter will release more information.
The county of Essex declared an emergency over the issue this week. According to the County of Essex, as of Monday there were nearly 500 minutes where a Code Black was in effect this month. Code Black refers to situations when there is no ambulance free to respond in the event of an emergency.
The issue is being blamed on delays in off-loading patients at hospitals, which are also over capacity, according to officials.
Essex County officials recently met with the provincial Ministry of Health on the issue, which is being felt in regions across the province.
They made several suggestions to tackle the offload delays, including allowing less serious patients to sit in the waiting room so ambulances can leave the hospital.
A ministry spokesperson indicated earlier this week that Health Minister Sylvia Jones will meet with county warden Gary McNamara and Krauter "to discuss how the province can assist with this matter."
WATCH: Dr. Ken Blanchette joins CBC Windsor News at 6
Blanchette, a doctor of chiropractic who has served as a board member for WECHU and Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, made the comments in his first interview with CBC News since taking position at the helm of the public health unit on Monday.
Blanchette was hired following the departure of Nicole Dupuis last month.
The health unit has yet to fill another key vacancy on staff. Dr. Shanker Nesathurai has been serving as top doctor on an interim basis since September 2021.
Blanchette said it was a top priority to find a permanent medical officer of health for the region.
"We're hoping to expedite that. We are looking both within Canada and internationally as well."
Clarifications
- This story has been updated from a previous version to reflect that the County of Essex has clarified there were 491 minutes under a Code Black in October, not 491 separate incidents.Oct 20, 2022 12:59 PM ET
With files from Katerina Georgieva