“Our government is committed to reducing the cost of emergency care and I am very pleased to follow through on our commitment to eliminate emergency ambulance fees for Island seniors,” says Health Minister, Doug Currie. “In an emergency situation, seniors will not have to deal with the financial burden of ambulance service fees.” Emergency ambulance services include medical situations where a call to 911 would normally occur. Non-emergency use of ambulance services will still incur an ambulance user fee.

Government recognizes that this initiative may impact demand for ambulance services on the Island. The Department of Health continues to work collaboratively with Island EMS and to monitor response times regularly. Government will also announce various emergency system enhancements in the upcoming spring budget.

In the past year, government also eliminated out-of-province ambulance transport fees, as well as air ambulance fees, to help reduce financial hardship for Island residents.