Latest news with #ShockTraumaAirRescueService
Winnipeg Free Press
10-07-2025
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
New 10-year deal with STARS air ambulance much cheaper than 2012 deal
The province has inked an $84-million contract with STARS Air Ambulance in which the private service will provide emergency medical care and transport to Manitobans for another decade. 'For rural Manitobans, the iconic red helicopters have become a symbol of rapid response and of expert care. They represent hope when the unthinkable happens,' Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said Thursday afternoon as they announced the contract from the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service hangar near the Winnipeg airport. 'Every single dollar in this agreement is more than well spent, and it allows for us as a government to continue to invest in rural health care in a meaningful way.' Tyler Searle / Winnipeg Free Press Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara was flanked by STARS Air Ambulance members Thursday, during a news conference announcing a renewed 10-year contract between the province and the private service. The deal represents a nearly 50 per cent reduction in cost from the first 10-year STARS contract, signed with the Alberta-based non-profit and charity in 2012 for $159 million. The parties agreed to a two-year extension in 2022. The province was unable to clarify the cost of that contract before deadline Thursday. Asagwara did not explain how the new deal was negotiated at such a favourable price, but stressed there will be no reduction in service despite the lower expense. 'The standards in this agreement are actually enhanced,' the minister said. 'Nothing lost. Only more gained for Manitoba.' Dr. John Froh, president and CEO of STARS, said the service operates year-round and provides emergency care and transport throughout the province. 'Our partnership with the Manitoba government has been critical to our long-term success,' Froh said. 'We've continued to answer the call when someone needs critical care, no matter where they are.' A typical flight crew is staffed by critical care nurses and paramedics who are supported by on-call transport physicians. A pair of pilots is deployed on each flight, Froh said. He said the service operates with the cutting-edge in medical flight technology, including an on-board ultrasound system that is the only one of its kind in Canada. Like Asagwara, Froh said service will be enhanced under the new contract. 'We're bringing more blood products on board, we're utilizing more virtual care technology… We're very excited to see where we can adapt that to the province of Manitoba,' he said. The Manitoba Allied Health Care Providers criticized the deal. President Jason Linklater said rural Manitobans are suffering under a protracted paramedic staffing crisis. 'STARS can't make up for that; they can't respond to every call, and the service they provide, while essential, is very expensive,' Linklater said in a statement. 'Furthermore, STARS rarely responds until Shared Health paramedics on the ground request them. The problem is that those paramedics are so thin on the ground that they can take an hour or longer to respond to 911 calls.' The union leader called for the province to invest in the public system and hire the new 200 paramedics pledged by the New Democratic Party during its 2023 election campaign. Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. Speaking to the Free Press shortly after that election, Asagwara said the government was reviewing the potential return of a publicly delivered air-ambulances program. The former Tory government began decommissioning the Lifeflight air ambulance service in 2019, and in late 2020, STARS assumed an expanded role. Asked about that review Thursday, the minister said sticking with STARS is the right choice. 'It was a decision that made really good sense and allows for us to, again, focus our energy and resources on strengthening and fixing other areas of health care,' Asagwara said. 'A relationship with STARS, a renewed agreement, actually strengthens our public health-care system.' Tyler SearleReporter Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press's city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic's creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler. Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CBC
02-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
STARS air ambulance founder Greg Powell dies at 77
Current STARS president says countless people alive today due to Powell's vision STARS air ambulance announced on Thursday night that its founder and former CEO, Greg Powell, died earlier this week. Powell, 77, died on Wednesday at Foothills Hospice in Okotoks, with his family by his side. Current Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service (STARS) president and CEO John Froh said in a release that Powell recognized too many patients were dying because they couldn't receive the care they needed quickly enough, and was motivated to improve the delivery model. "Countless people are alive today because of his ground-breaking vision and enduring tenacity and for that we are honoured to carry on his mission," Froh said. Powell grew up in Edmonton and studied medicine at the University of British Columbia, according to a profile of his career published for his induction into the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2021. During his second year of studies, he used a medical elective to join the Flying Doctor Service in Darwin, Australia. While on the way to Australia, he visited a mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) unit in Saigon during the Vietnam War, where he watched helicopter rescues in action. Watching war casualties survive traumatic injuries thanks to the rapid intervention inspired him to create a helicopter emergency medical service closer to home, the profile says. After graduating from UBC, Powell attended Canada's then-only emergency medicine training program at McGill University and worked as the director of emergency medicine at Calgary's Foothill hospital. Powell co-founded STARS in 1985. The charity survived early financial struggles and expanded beyond Calgary in 1991, opening an Edmonton base. The emergency medical service is celebrating its 40th year of operation this year. It has flown more than 60,000 missions across Western Canada, from bases across the prairies in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. For his work launching STARS, Powell was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2006. Powell also received the Alberta Centennial Medal in 2005, and the Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. Powell also served as chair of emergency medical services for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics and as medical director for internationally protected persons at the 2002 G8 Summit in Kananaskis. He was later inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame in 2018, and the Foothills Medical Centre helipad was named after him in 2015.
