Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Feb 15/99) - Baffin Regional Health and Social Services Board and First Air have formed an alliance, the Makivik-owned airline announced last week.

The partnership, entered into after public tender and extensive negotiations between the two organizations, will see First Air as the preferred carrier for the Baffin health board.

Baffin health board-sponsored travel will be discounted for staff business, as well as patient and patient escort travel. Cargo rates will also be discounted.

The goal of the partnership was to reduce the board's transportation costs, Jarvis Hoult, Baffin Regional Health and Social Services Board CEO, said.

Hoult, who joined the Baffin board as its top administrator in November, was previously the chief operating officer with the Saudi Arabian National Guard's health services. Prior to that, he was with the B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver.

"This three-year partnership will benefit the residents of the Baffin region and Nunavut, as the operating cost savings achieved will be reallocated to direct patient-care services for the communities we serve," he said.

Last year, the Baffin board had $7 million in air travel-related costs.

Hoult said had this agreement been in place in 1998, the board would have saved $1.3 million.

Hoult also said the deal includes "value-added" items as well, like free tickets for compassionate situations.

"This is a generous and community-focused package," he said of the deal.

The deal also takes into consideration that other carriers may have to be used in certain situations.

And the Baffin board currently has agreements with other carriers for emergency extrication and medical evacuations.

First Air CEO Bob Davis called the partnership "fundamental" to First Air's ability to provide service to smaller communities.

First Air has been operating in the North for 53 years and flies to 28 communities. The carrier has over 1,000 employees. It's 450 staff in the NWT make it the second largest private-sector employer in the North.

The Baffin health board operates the Baffin Regional Hospital, community health care services and public health centres throughout the region.

The board employs over 300 health-care workers and oversees an annual operating budget of about $42 million.