Nipissing EMS Manager Jean Guy Belzile addresses the crowd at the Tuesday morning press conference. PHOTO BY CHRIS DAWSON.
A new EMS Station for the District of Nipissing will be housed on leased land on Seymour Street.
The unveiling of the plan for the new location at 1715 Seymour Street, a short drive from Highway 17, took place Tuesday morning.
The new facility targeted to open next June, will consolidate the two other stations which are currently located in West Ferris (Ferris Drive) and at the old hospital site on Beatty Street.
“The building that they are now in is 40 years old and it needed a lot of upgrading so we tried to find something central, it’s been a long process but a successful one,” said Jean Guy Belzile, District of Nipissing Manager of EMS.
“This location is central we are close to the highway, we can get to Trout Lake road by Wallace as well so the accessibility is very important and this is a perfect location.”
Ground has already been broken for the new EMS station located across from Carry All Home Building Centre and next to the Auto Mall on Seymour Street. PHOTO BY CHRIS DAWSON.
An extensive 2-year assessment conducted by the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board (DNSSAB) concluded it would be more cost effective to create one central location that they believe will best serve the 11 communities under their jurisdiction.
“You will still get very good response time because our crews are roaming all the time, they are not necessarily leaving here to respond to a call,” said Belzile noting the train tracks on the bypass would not be a factor.
“Should the call be the closest to here absolutely there will be a crew that leaves from here.”
The 15-year lease agreement is with PRONOR, owned by Christian Fortin.
This EMS Station on Ferris Street will shut down once the new facility on Seymour is ready to open next June. PHOTO BY JEFF TURL.