Ontario's air ambulance service has cut 18 jobs to reduce costs, CTV News learned Tuesday.
ORNGE said it has decided to restructure, resulting in the immediate termination of 18 office staff positions.
According to a statement from ORNGE, these are not paramedics or pilots, but rather employees from "back-office departments."
ORNGE said it wants to "reduce costs and focus on front-line care for its patients."
The company is also shutting down its charity organization, J-Smarts, which was set up to educate children about cottage country safety.
J-Smarts, however, was given a speed boat as a gift donation from the helicopter company in Italy that recently sold ORNGE 12 new choppers for $144 million, COO Tom Lepine said last summer.
The speed boat was kept in the Muskoka area, but ORNGE said it was barely used.
ORNGE receives $150 million a year in taxpayers money. It was recently learned that the CEO and president of ORNGE was being paid $1.4 million a year.
Follow Paul on Twitter at @BlissBlogs.
