Hastings-Quinte Paramedics has been hiring and has secured 19 more paramedics.
During Wednesday’s Hastings County Emergency Services Committee meeting, Paramedic Chief Carl Bowker explained the current state of ambulance service in a report to the committee.
Previously, Bowker had identified a need to hire more paramedics, and set a goal to have 40 new paramedics hired by spring 2026. So far, they’ve hired 19 of those paramedics for full- and part-time positions.
Bowker said that getting more paramedics in service will reduce the stress and pressure on the paramedics they already have.
“We’ve got interviews set up for next week with 18 candidates being interviewed,” said Bowker. “We’re hoping to maybe get about 10 from that group, and then really our spring hires is the big hiring point.”
With the new hires, ambulance staffing has increased by 12 hours a day, allowing better response times in busy urban areas like Belleville and Quinte West.
