Statement from HSAA on EHS Rebranding

The EHS rebranding to ALTA Paramedic Health demonstrates how disconnected the leadership is from frontline health-care workers’ issues and needs. Albertans should be concerned about the use of health-care funding for this rebranding exercise.

Our paramedics are experiencing record high vacancy rates, leading to chronic short-staffing that leaves them with rapidly deteriorating moral and psychological health. The fact that Alberta paramedics are among the lowest paid paramedics in the country means it remains increasingly difficult to retain and recruit these professionals to care for Albertans in their most critical times of need.  All available resources should be directed toward solving the longstanding workforce and truck shortages, not designing new uniforms and truck decals. This is not going to help paramedics, and it is not going to help Albertans. 

Our members are proud of their identity as first responders. They want safe staffing levels, manageable workloads, and the ability to provide the level of care Albertans deserve. They want to feel respected, consulted, and supported by the system they serve every day. If rebranding is going to happen, the very least Emergency Health Services can do is allow frontline staff to have meaningful consultation on their work and identity while they deliver essential frontline health care for Albertans every day.

HSAA members, including those involved in the EHS rebranding focus groups, shared the following:

• "This process was a bad faith exercise to manufacture engagement."
• "It was very clear walking into that room that decisions had already been made around the colours, the triangle logo, and the overall direction. There was no real interest in feedback or discussion, especially when concerns were raised about fiscal responsibility or practicality. The message was essentially: this is happening whether you agree with it or not."
• "There was basically zero meaningful engagement on them [the uniforms], despite the fact staff are the ones expected to wear them every day. There was no talk or presentation about them. They are making huge decisions that impact frontline staff without actually involving frontline staff."
• "We are struggling to staff ambulances… Frontline staff are watching response pressures grow, offload delays worsen, rural coverage suffer, and burnout spread throughout the profession. Yet somehow, ‘someone’ decided that rebranding EMS was a priority. No paramedic I know asked for this. No patient needed this."