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Northern Manitoba patients will save on ambulance trips

Taking an ambulance will soon be more affordable for Manitobans, including many in the northern part of the province. Effective this Sunday, Jan.

Taking an ambulance will soon be more affordable for Manitobans, including many in the northern part of the province.

Effective this Sunday, Jan. 1, the provincial government will mandate that an ambulance ride cost the lower of either $475 or the pre-existing base fee within a particular health region.

“People have told us ambulance fees in Manitoba are too high and we have heard these concerns,” Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen said in a news release. “We are taking the first steps to reduce ambulance fees and help make this important service more affordable for Manitobans.”

Programs to send northern patients to Winnipeg for major care, such as the Northern Patient Transportation Program and the Lifeflight Air Ambulance program, will not be changed.

Twyla Storey, spokeswoman for the Northern Health Region (NHR), which covers Flin Flon and most of northern Manitoba, said ambulance services charges a basic rate of $290 in the region.

As part of the province-wide fee reductions, the NHR will remove surcharges, such as its “loaded kilometre fee” for calls outside community limits.

– With files from
Jonathon Naylor

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