SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Yellowknife's Air Tindi Ltd. has landed a $140 million contract to provide air support services for the GNWT in conjunction with Advanced Medical Services Inc.(AMS).

Yellowknife's Air Tindi and Advanced Medical Services have landed a $140 million GNWT contract to continue to provide air ambulance medevac services in the North. The new contract is intended to provide enhanced medevac services. - Walter Strong/NNSL photo

They are operating under a joint-venture named ACCESS (Aeromedical Critical Care Emergency Services Specialists).

The contract is a renewal and expansion of a previous five-year contract to provide Northern air ambulance services that will expire at the end of March.

The new eight-year contract (renewable for two additional years) was announced on Jan. 5 by GNWT following the completion of an evaluation process lead by the Stanton Territorial Health Authority and the Department of Health and Social Services.

"It's an eight-year contract, (with) steady prices," said Air Tindi President Alasdair Martin. "It allows us to have a stable and improved service."

But that improved service comes with additional cost.

Over the past six years Air Tindi and AMS have provided medevac services at a cost of approximately $12 million per year, averaging over 1,000 flight dispatches annually.

The new contract will cost approximately $17.5 million per year thanks to service upgrades the GNWT was looking for.

According to departmental spokesperson Damien Healy, the extra $5.5 million per year will mean newer, medevac-dedicated aircraft to replace the aging fleet currently used to fulfill the contract.

"The existing aircraft in the contract are over 23 years old," Healy stated in an e-mail.

"The four aircraft used within the new contract will be considerably newer."

Three of those aircraft will be based in Yellowknife and one in Inuvik.

Martin said the details of the new aircraft are not available yet as they are still being sourced, but according to information provided by the GNWT, the new dedicated fleet will have improved avionics and safety systems, new medical equipment, dual stretchers and enhancements to meet the needs of bariatric (obese) patients.

Thanks in part to these fleet improvements, Air Tindi and AMS have will be able to reduce specialized aircraft response time to 120 minutes, from the current 240-minute contracted response time. Specialized aircraft are defined as those capable of short take-off and landing, like the Twin Otter or a helicopter.

Air Tindi and AMS have also committed to have the service certified under standards established by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems within two years.

This certification would raise the credentials of the NWT medevac service to the same North American standard as that provided by the famed STARS air ambulance service. According to Healy, the Government of Nova Scotia and STARS are the only Canadian providers of air ambulance services which meet that level of certification.

Air Tindi will also dedicate one of its existing Yellowknife airport hangers to air ambulance service.

"Normally we transfer patients on the ramp, out in the open," Martin said.

"Going forward, we will do that inside a dedicated hanger."

Previously, the contract was paid on a per mile basis where the GNWT paid for service as used.

Martin said that kind of service scenario meant wide fluctuations in revenue from month to month, creating challenges when it came to staff scheduling.

The new contract is a combination of fixed monthly rates as well as mileage rates.

"It means our fixed costs are covered, which are quite substantial for a contract like this," Martin said.

"We're able to make sure we're fully staffed all the time," Martin added.

"From a medical point of view and pilot point of view, we can make sure we've got sufficient staff to prevent the potential for fatigue."

Air Tindi's proposal was one of four bidders on the contract that included Summit Air Charters Ltd., 506710 NWT Ltd., and Keewatin Air LP.

According the Healy, the contract was not necessarily awarded to the lowest bidder, but also considered the aptness of the bidders to service the contract.

"This was a Request for Proposal (RFP) and not a Request For Tender (RFT), consequently the contract was negotiated with the highest rated proponent," said Healy.

"The highest rated proponent would not necessarily have the lowest bid price."

Healy added that cost would have been only one component of the bid process. The bid amounts put forward by the unsuccessful bidders will not be made public.