Lifeflight doctors staying grounded in response to cancelled program

07/05/2019

The planes currently being used for Manitoba’s air ambulance service aren’t flying with Lifeflight doctors, leaving the planes unstaffed over the past two weeks due to safety concerns for patients.

The doctors who are refusing to board the planes are critical of the province’s efforts to privatize the program.

Lifeflight transitioned to private carriers in late June, after the province grounded the pair of Cessna Citation jets that had previously been in service. The end of the program happened earlier than expected and led to nine pilots being given a day’s notice before being laid off.

“We were told on June 6 that the Citation program was going to be ending, possibly as soon as the end of the month, but it was officially terminated around the 17th or the 18th. Since there has been no Citation plane to take us, we have not been flying,” Dr. Renate Singh, Lifeflight’s medical director, told Global News.

“We’re looking forward to an expedited solution to resolving the safety issues, so that business can continue, because this has to continue.”

A spokesperson for the province said the government is still in talks with the doctors to figure out a resolution.

In the meantime, Lifeflight doctors continue to triage patients, but other providers – including doctors, nurses and advanced care paramedics – are currently providing the inter-facilty transport.

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