Premier reassures northerners over medevac services

Premier Alison Redford is reassuriingnorthern Alberta residentsthat air ambulance servicewill not deterioratewhen Medevac services are moved to the Edmonton International Airport from the City Centre airportnext week.

Thepatient-care area onsite,an in-door patient transfer facility, a dedicated ambulance fleet, and protocols that state the most urgent patients will be flown to hospital by STARS helicopter will meet the needs of northern communities, Redford says.

A review by the Health Quality Council of Albertainto the transfer has resulted in a facility "dramatically improved over what was available at Edmonton City Centre," she said.

"If we find that after a few months, we need to alter the system ... we'll do that," she said in a video message posted on her website.

Doctors from northern Alberta are calling on the province to delay moving air ambulance flights out of City Centre Airport until a better solution can be found.

The city is closing the airport to free the land for development

The premier also confirmed all government planes will start flying out of the international airport next Friday.