Boissevain-Morton is making its case as the community fights to keep EMS operating out of Boissevain in the future.

The municipality has put together a business case justifying why ambulances should continue to work out of Boissevain. That document has been submitted to the Health Minister and the Premier.

The Manitoba government is moving ahead with a large-scale transformation of the province's emergency medical services system including the closure of more than a dozen EMS stations in rural Manitoba.

Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen said the changes were recommended in a 2013 report on the province's emergency medical services system. It advised closing low-volume stations and reducing the number of stations in rural Manitoba by 18.

Boissevain is on the list of towns that is set to lose ambulance operations and would be serviced by centres to be established in neighbouring towns.

“We met with local MLA Doyle Piwniuk and put a presentation together and went through the information that is in the document” said Boissevain-Morton CAO Leo Poulin.

“His view on it was when it first was announced Boissevain was his only concern out of all the closures within the 18 that were announced.”

The business case summarizes an overview of the municipality including stats that show the population is growing and also a list of services provided in the region including the outlying areas including the parks, Peace Garden and Minto.

“Our MLA indicated it could take up to 10 years to implement the new EMS plan so there is a little bit of hope that this can get reversed. We did put a solid case together and Piwniuk felt we did have a case to keep EMS services so we are going to hope for the best” said Poulin.

Boissevain-Morton wants 24-7 EMS in Boissevain just like the other centres would have. “Right now we have your typical Monday to Friday kind of 8:00am to 4:30pm and they are on call 24-7 so right now people that rely on the service are getting that service fairly quickly but with these changes it would change response times would be impacted drastically and be 30 minutes plus for response time if we lose our services here.”

The municipality sites this past winter as a perfect example because of the severe winter, road closures and trying conditions. “You can't take these things for granted and health is something that is critical for everyone and we need to ensure we keep that service here” said Poulin.

The municipality has met with the province a couple of times and Poulin is hoping to hear back on the latest lobby efforts sometime in September.