ONTARIO CONNECTING PEOPLE TO FASTER EMERGENCY CARE

Investments in emergency care have reduced ambulance offload times by more than 50 per cent

August 27, 2024

HAMILTON — The Ontario government is investing over $4.5 million through the City of Hamilton to connect people to emergency care faster and increase the availability of ambulances. 

“Our government continues to make investments that connect people to the care they need more efficiently,” said Donna Skelly, MPP for Flamborough-Glanbrook. “This funding will help address increased costs so that our health care professionals can continue to deliver high-quality emergency care in our community.” 

“Our ambulance services help save lives, and reducing offload times means that paramedics can get back out in the community more quickly,” said Neil Lumsden, MPP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek. “That’s why I’m proud that our government has increased funding to Hamilton’s ambulance services by nearly $5 million and is providing $2.7 million for the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program. This investment will ensure that people can continue to get the care they need, when they need it.”

In Hamilton, Ontario is increasing land ambulance funding by 16 per cent, bringing the province’s total investment in the region to $35,589,470 this year. This increase in base funding helps ensure municipalities address increased costs so they can continue to deliver high-quality emergency care. 

In addition, to further reduce delays paramedics encounter when dropping patients off at a hospital, Ontario is investing $2,759,400 in Hamilton through the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program to hire more nurses and other eligible health professionals dedicated to offloading ambulance patients in hospital emergency departments.

The program allows paramedics to get back out into the community faster and respond to their next 9-1-1 call sooner, and has played a significant role in reducing ambulance offload times and increasing ambulance availability for 9-1-1 patients across the province. As a result of this investment and the dedication of health care professionals, provincial ambulance offload time has been reduced by more than 50 per cent since its peak in October 2022. 

To ensure urgent patients receive critical care sooner, Ontario is also continuing to implement the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) across the province. The system helps to better prioritize and triage emergency medical calls and dispatch paramedics sooner. Over the last year, the province has rolled out MPDS to Mississauga, Kenora, Thunder Bay, Ottawa and Renfrew, and are accelerating progress to implement the system at the 15 remaining dispatch sites across Ontario over a year ahead of schedule.With Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the government continues to take action to strengthen the health care system so that it is responsive and is evolving to meet the health needs and priorities of Ontarians, no matter where they live.

QUICK FACTS

  • The government’s additional investments into the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program over three years will help municipalities cover around 800,000 dedicated hours to support offloading ambulance patients in the emergency department.
  • Currently over 200 patient care models led by paramedic services across the province are now approved to provide appropriate and timely care options for eligible 9-1-1 patients in the community, instead of in the emergency department.  
  •  The government is helping more students become paramedics by adding more than 300 spaces in paramedic programs at provincial colleges across Ontario, making it easier for future paramedics to access education and training closer to home.
  • The Ontario Learn and Stay Grant is providing over 350 first-year paramedic students studying in select Northern postsecondary institutions with funding for free tuition, books, compulsory fees and other direct educational costs. After graduating, students will need to work in the same region they studied for a minimum of six months for every full year of study funded by the grant.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

MPP CONTACT INFO

Samantha Moore

Communications Advisor

Office of Donna Skelly, Flamborough-Glanbrook MPP

905-679-3770