Grey County has given the green light to its paramedic services to order two ambulances one year ahead of time.
Committee of the Whole heard a report Thursday (Feb 23) from Director of Paramedic Services Kevin McNab explaining there is only one vendor approved by the provincial government who supplies ambulance conversions and their price is anticipated to go up in the spring.
The plan had originally been to order them in 2023 and 2024, as outlined in their ten-year capital plan, but he notes even since 2021, there’s been a 40 per cent price increase.
McNab says, it takes about 20 months to get an ambulance after it’s ordered.
He explained to councillors, the Ministry of Health regulates who the approved vendors are for ambulance conversions and for years there were just two approved vendors in Ontario: Demers, and Crestline.
He says in 2018, Demers and Crestline merged and created one of the largest ambulance manufacturing companies in the world.
McNab says over the years, Grey County has standardized its fleet with Demers using the exact configuration for each ambulance. He notes, it ensures in an emergency that paramedics know where equipment is stored. He says it’s also helpful to their mechanics.
He says the 2023 budget includes two ambulance replacements, and the 10-year capital plan includes the replacement of two ambulances in 2024 to maintain their fleet. Because of the 20 month delivery time, and possible price increase, staff requested to to order the 2024 ambulances now.
The quote for ambulances for the 2023 year is $261,376 net of HST for orders before March 1st, 2023.
According to McNab’s report, the price of ambulances has increased significantly over the past three years. He says the County ordered three ambulances in 2021 at a price of $186,242 per vehicle net of HST, and then three ambulances in 2022 for a price of $239,302 per vehicle net of HST.
He says the price has increased by $22,073 or 9.22 per cent since 2022, and $75,133 or 40 per cent since 2021.
He also noted, the price of the ambulances is not guaranteed as Demers, Braun Crestline maintain the right to increase the price of the vehicle based on external factors including the industrial product price index, and increased chassis and power load costs from their suppliers.
The expected arrival date of the first two ambulances is roughly October 2024.