Monday marked the grand opening of the Stirling Paramedic Base, the new headquarters for Hastings-Quinte Paramedics.
The new facility, several years in the making, is located at 2547 Stirling-Marmora Road, beside the Stirling-Rawdon Fire Hall and Municipal Office.
Several local dignitaries were on hand for the ribbon cutting.
Chief of Paramedic Services Carl Bowker says the base is much larger than the Millennium Drive location in Belleville and will be the nerve centre for local paramedic services.
“It’s not just a base that will support frontline operations but a new training facility, a home for community paramedics, our logistical headquarters and emergency operations centre. The base is strategically located to support Centre Hastings while continuing to support Belleville and Quinte West.”
Hastings County CAO Connor Dorey noted Hastings-Quinte Paramedics serves a huge area, a larger geographic region and population than Prince Edward Island.
Hastings-Lennox & Addington MP Shelby Kramp-Neuman called the new base a perfect example of how several municipalities and levels of government can come together to best serve their communities and put constituents first.
Grand opening of the new Hastings-Quinte Paramedic Services Headquarters in Stirling-Rawdon, Jun 24, 2024. (Photo: Alana Cameron/Quinte News)
MPP for Hastings-Lennox & Addington, Ric Bresee added that paramedic services have gone through an evolution to become an integral part of the entire health care system and this base will help them do their important work.
Bob Mullin, Hastings County Warden and Stirling-Rawdon mayor, commended the work, commitment and resilience of local paramedics and welcomed them to their new home.
Belleville City Councillor Garnet Thompson, Emergency Services Joint Committee Chair also commended Chief Bowker.
“Because that gentleman, over the last number of years, has been instrumental in getting more ambulances and more paramedics in Prince Edward County.”
With a couple of logistical items still to be completed, Hastings-Quinte Paramedic Services plans to be operating out of the new base on July 1.
