By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A clause within the contract between Chatham-Kent and Medavie EMS has triggered a $2.3-million “economic-adjustment” payment from the municipality.
Approved at the June 22 council meeting, a total of $225,000 of the funds will come from the Labour Relations reserve, while the remainder will be referred to the 2027 budget update and the 2028-2031 multi-year budget.
According to a report from administration, the current contract with Medavie was approved late in 2024, covering the timeframe from Jan. 1, 2025 to Dec. 2029 for a total of $82,857,813. It contained the clause that the operator “was permitted a right to terminate the agreement with notice” if the provision of the services becomes unfeasible due to circumstances beyond the operator’s reasonable control on the third-year anniversary of the term.
The report stated that “significant employee-related wage and long-term disability costs” forced the contractor to enact the exit clause.
The increases were far above the estimates used when Medavie bid on the contract, the report said, and are similarly being experienced in the ambulance sector across Ontario. As there have been no other recent bidders on EMS services, administration recommended that staff begin to prepare an internal bid in 2027 for services for an RFP in late 2028 in order to have time to be organized to take the service in house for Jan. 1, 2030, if a more affordable option can’t be found.
Upper tier or regional governments such as Chatham-Kent are required to provide EMS services. The province downloaded the responsibility in 2000, the report said.
