Ottawa eyes new paramedic headquarters in Barrhaven

The City of Ottawa is looking to build a new paramedic headquarters in Barrhaven, as the current 21-year-old facility is “over capacity and unable to safely support current or future operations,” according to staff.

The city’s finance and economic services committee approved a plan for the city to proceed with a public-private partnership to build a new Ottawa Paramedic Service headquarters at 4061 Strandherd Drive, located between Borrisokane Road and Dealership Drive.

“It would improve resource deployment in Ottawa’s west and south,” staff said about the proposed location.

Staff recommend the city proceed with a design-build-finance-maintain procurement delivery model for the new Ottawa Paramedic Service west deployment facility, with the private sector building, financing and maintaining the building. The plan would see the city make payments over 30 years to build the facility.

The current Ottawa Paramedic Service headquarters on Don Reid Drive was built in 2005 with capacity for 330 staff and 80 ambulances and emergency response vehicles. It was built in a design-build-finance-maintain public-private partnership with a 30-year maintenance agreement.

Staff say since the headquarters opened, population growth, an expanded scope of practice and a change to service delivery have required paramedics to adapt and expand programs, “significantly increasing space, logistical and operational needs.”

The paramedic service currently has over 900 staff and 160 vehicles operating out of its current headquarters on Don Reid Drive, and it’s the single location for staff to deploy from at the start of shifts.

“The facility faces critical constraints, including insufficient vehicle storage, limited medical supply and equipment space, inadequate training capacity, constrained staff parking, and operational health and safety challenges,” staff said.

“The site cannot be expanded further, and additional leased space is not an operationally viable long-term solution.”

The paramedic service currently has 19 paramedic posts across the city for rest and eating breaks.

Council has approved $4 million in capital funding for the west deployment facility to support design requirements and procurement and engineering services. Staff say the city is eligible for Land Ambulance Service Grant funding to cover 50 per cent of the costs for operating the facility.

The report does not say how much the Ottawa Paramedic Service west deployment facility would cost to build or provide an expected opening date.

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