Annual contribution of $1M planned for EWEMS ‘hub and spoke’ station

by Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative  

Members of Essex County Council were presented with the first update on the proposed funding model for the “Hub and Spoke” station Essex-Windsor EMS (EWEMS) is planning to better serve the growing region.

  The Hub and Spoke station is estimated to cost $55.6M for the infrastructure. That estimated total will include land acquisition, design, permitting, construction, and supporting infrastructure. Operating costs for staffing and equipment for the Hub and Spoke Station will be addressed during the annual budget process.

  Administration plans a phased-in, levee funded portion for this capital program, beginning with the 2026 Budget, Melissa Ryan, Director of Financial Services/Treasurer, outlined. An annual contribution of around $1M is anticipated, starting with the 2026 Budget, which would be used to repay internal borrowing or service any future debt.

  Her report adds that the funding model would use the EMS Capital Reserve – estimated at $13M, followed by internal borrowing from other County reserves to address the remaining funding gap. The model includes an annual increase to the levy-funded portion to gradually pay back the borrowing from the other capital reserves.    

The funding model has been designed to be flexible, and will continue to evolve as the project progresses, Ryan outlined, noting the current Provincial Land Ambulance Service Agreement does not include funding for EMS capital costs.

  Any government funding that may be received in the future will help to reduce reliance on the taxbase, Ryan explained. She added if County Council were to eventually adopt a County-level Development Charge, as this plan is in progress – though some Councillors have expressed hesitation in supporting it – the revenue generated could offset levee requirements.  

  The plan for the Hub and Spoke station is to have a central hub in Windsor, with satellite stations throughout the region, where a central site would be used to feed vehicles and crews to existing stations. County Council was previously told EWEMS’s current stations are well located.

  The design is intended to improve EMS response times, optimize system efficiency, and align service delivery with community growth, her Report to County Council details.

  In answering Amherstburg Mayor Michael Prue’s question on why the hub was planned for Windsor, EWEMS Chief Justin Lammers explained that the majority of the call volume for the local EMS service comes from the city.

  He said that the call volume in the region is high. EWEMS ambulances are predominantly winding up at Windsor Regional Hospital. The hub is planned for the outskirts of Windsor, which will allow the ambulance service to turn all the stations around it to spokes that can be fed from there.If we meet the demand there, we can preserve what is happening in the county,” Lammers explained.

  In another decade, if things go well, there could be another reporting station that could do the same in the County, he added.

  “Right now, we need to bolster that north-west corner to preserve the rest of the region,” Lammers added. EWEMS is following its recently crafted Master Plan, which outlined the need to get the hub as close to Windsor Regional Hospital as possible.

  Back in February, EWEMS updated its Master Plan, a document providing a roadmap of the operation for the next five-years, ensuring it is providing the right care at the right place and time for patients in the County of Essex and the City of Windsor.

  When presenting the Master Plan, it was noted EWEMS is responding to 149 incidents per day on average last year. Across the whole in 2018, it was responding to 139. That is an around seven-percent increase. There was a dip during the pandemic.

  For the average patient, whether they were taken to hospital or not, the amount of time it takes to respond to a call has risen from 78-minutes to 96-minutes.

  In considering population projections, overall, a 4.5% average annual demand increase is projected from 2024 to 2030 for EWEMS as part of the five-year Master Plan. That is compared to an average 4% increase from 2021 to 2023. Specifically to the County, the projection over the next five-years is 3.2%. For Windsor, it is 5.1%.