The provincial government is getting closer to its goal of providing 99 communities with rural paramedic support.
Those 99 communities are getting an expanded service model from community paramedics which includes home visits to check on medications and other home services.
They include Port Hardy, Denman and Hornby Islands, and Port McNeill.
The British Columbia Emergency Health Service(BCEHS) will be adding six new positions in Campbell River, Cranbrook, Prince Rupert, Salt Spring Island, Fort St. John and Valemount.
The goal of the paramedicine initiative is to help stabilize paramedic staffing in rural communities and bridge health service delivery gaps.
The province and the new Ambulance Paramedics of B.C. union recently ratified a new agreement for the new advanced paramedic positions. It also contains general wage increases of two percent per year.
The rural paramedicine project started as a pilot project in Tofino, Ucluelet, Port Hardy, Cortes Island, Fort St. James, Hazelton, Chetwynd, Creston and Princeton in 2017.
Since then, it has seen 129 community paramedic positions being introduced.
More information on the project, or what communities are involved, click here.
