Dessercom

Dessercom

Dessercom was born on 21 November 1968 when J. Gérard Couture, Gilles Demers, and Roger Lepage signed a trust deed with Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis to manage the hospital's cafeteria. The Fiducie des services ancillaires expanded into television rentals and parking before acquiring its first ambulance service, Ambulances 2000, in 1984. Letters patent issued in February 1988 officially transferred assets into Dessercom — a name contracted from "DES SERvices COMmunautaires" — and in 1995 the organization secured charitable non-profit status. Today it is the only non-profit entity among Quebec's ambulance operators. The enterprise runs on two principal operating lines: pre-hospital emergency services (ambulance) and inter-facility medical transport, plus a growing third pillar of community paramedicine and event medical coverage. Dessercom covers thirteen of Quebec's seventeen administrative regions, from Abitibi-Témiscamingue to the Gaspésie. In 2023 it acquired 100% of GTI Medical, rebranded Dessercom Événements, and in 2024 it added Airmedic to its portfolio, giving it a dedicated aeromedical-evacuation capability. Dessercom also holds a 50% stake in healthcare technology and supply ventures listed as "investments" on its website, alongside a separate entity, Gestac HDL, that manages hospital parking and cafeteria services at Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis. Dessercom fields a workforce of more than 1,300 paramedics, drivers, dispatchers, and administrative staff directed from a Lévis headquarters and secondary administrative offices in Saint-Hyacinthe and Malartic. A seven-member board chaired by Clarence Pelletier governs the organization, while President and CEO Maxime Laviolette leads an executive team that includes VPs for finance, operations, human resources, and a dedicated director of events. In 2025, Dessercom extended its reach further into Abitibi-Témiscamingue with the purchase of Ambulances Senneterre, adding two service points. What separates Dessercom from for-profit ambulance consolidators is its charitable constitution. As a registered non-profit, it channels operating surpluses into hospital foundations, sponsors community health initiatives, and built the Maison Dessercom, a support residence. That structural choice — pairing a public-service mandate with an aggressive acquisition playbook — yields a footprint no other single Quebec ambulance operator matches, while keeping capital inside the healthcare ecosystem rather than returning it to shareholders.