GLENBURNIE – A freeze in provincial funding has Frontenac Paramedics looking for ways to cover a shortfall in its 2019 budget.

In a letter to Frontenac Paramedic Services on Tuesday, the provincial Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care announced the provincial share of the paramedic services budget would be frozen at its 2018 level.

The result is a $161,000 deficit in the 2019 budget that was approved by Frontenac County council in early February.

“We are getting the same money for 2019 that we got in 2018,” paramedic Chief Paul Charbonneau said. “The problem with that is the 2018 number is based on our 2017 approved budget.”

The paramedics’ 2019 budget was approved at $19.3 million, with the provincial government paying 45 per cent, which translates to $8.44 million in 2018 and this year. In 2017, the province contributed about $8.36 million.

The City of Kingston pays 40 per cent of the cost, which this year amounts to more than $7.5 million, and the County of Frontenac pays the remaining 15 per cent, almost $3 million.

Charbonneau said provincial funding levels often lag behind the actual costs.

The provincial funding freeze came after Frontenac County council approved a budget increase of more than $1 million earlier this year.

That 5.6 per cent budget increase included a 7.74 per cent hike in the city’s portion of the cost, a jump of $544,000.

The city’s portion of the FPS budget increased more than the overall budget because the city’s growth outpaced that in the county.

Frontenac Paramedics employs 84 full-time and 76 part-time paramedics. About 78 per cent of FPS’s budget is for wages and benefits outlined in contracts.

Between 2017 and 2018, FPS’s call volume increased by 8.24 per cent. About 54 per cent of ambulance calls were for patients who are 60 or older, a statistic that is only going to increase as the population ages.

About 85 per cent of the service’s calls are within the city limits.

By 2023, FPS’s budget is projected to increase by $2 million to more than $23 million.

Charbonneau said he would be addressing county council on Wednesday to receive direction about how to address the shortfall.

“We have to make up that money up somehow,” he said. “The impact is what it is. County council approved a budget based on receiving that $161,000. We will now go back to council and it will be up to them to give us direction in what they would like us to do.”

Frontenac County Warden Ron Higgins, the mayor of North Frontenac, said county staff and council had not yet met to discuss the funding freeze.

“This freeze, plus the declining provincial funds, is putting us and the city in a bad position,” Higgins said.

Across Ontario, municipal governments spend about $720 million on paramedic services, and the province contributes about $580 million.

The funding freeze was the second surprise in less than a month for the province’s paramedics. In mid-April, the provincial government announced its intention to reduce the number of paramedic services in the province from 58 to 10.

A spokesperson for Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott told Postmedia Network the government is giving municipalities “stable” funding for paramedics with no change from last year.

“At the same time, we are investing in reducing the time it takes to provide critical emergency care and are empowering paramedics to improve the already great care they provide each and every day,” Hayley Chazan said in an email. “This includes the ability to safely and responsibly determine if there is a more appropriate care setting for patients to receive treatment other than an emergency department, such as a mental health crisis centre.”

According to Chazan, municipalities received a 5.8 per cent increase in land ambulance service funding in 2017 and a 5.3 per cent increase in funding in 2018.

– with files from Postmedia Network