As I mentioned the other day, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) has released their 2006/07 estimates for national health expenditures. According to the report Manitoba will spend approximately $3,284 per capita on health care this fiscal year, of which roughly $36 will go toward costs associated with ambulance service.
Following release of the report I contacted CIHI to request the data related to ambulance expenditures across the rest of Canada. This morning I received the Provincial and Territorial Government expenditures for the "ambulance" category dating back to 1974.
In reviewing this information, one thing is very evident...the Manitoba Government has increased EMS spending substantially over the past 13 years. In 1993/94 Manitoba spent only $10.3 million annually on EMS...the estimated expenditure for 2006/07 is $39.4 million. What's disappointing to note, however, is that only one province spends less per capita on EMS than Manitoba...P.E.I....but even they spend a greater percentage of their overall health care budget (1.2%) on ambulance service than we do. Manitoba ranks dead last amongst all ten provinces in that category.
The province that operates arguably the most successful emergency medical services system in the country, Nova Scotia, will spend close to $70.7 million dollars on ambulance service in the next fiscal year. That's a staggering $74.41 per capita...on the surface enough for many critics to suggest Manitoba could not consider such a model. But that would be very shallow thinking! While Nova Scotia spends approximately twice what Manitoba does annually on EMS, they actually spend less per capita overall on health care expenses. To me that suggests that the 2.5% of their annual health budget spent on emergency medical services has been offset by savings in other areas...something the Paramedic Association of Manitoba has been suggesting to Government for many years now.
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