Ontario Connecting People to Faster Emergency Care 

 Ontario Connecting People to Faster Emergency Care 

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:August 22, 2024

Durham — The Ontario government is investing over $34 million in the Regional Municipality of Durham to connect people to emergency care faster and increase the availability of ambulances.

“Our government remains committed to building a strong healthcare system so that Ontarians can access medical treatment wherever and whenever they may need it,” said Todd McCarthy, MPP for Durham. “This vital investment will speed up paramedic response times and ensure that Durham residents receive timely, high-quality care, now and for decades to come.”

In Durham, Ontario is increasing land ambulance funding by nine per cent, bringing the province’s total investment in the region to $33.6 million 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 $791K in the Regional Municipality of Durham 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

orities 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.

QUOTES

“A team of 435 paramedics across Durham Region work to protect the health and well-being of our residents. As our population continues to grow, growth in our paramedic services is critical in ensuring that our communities receive the emergency health services they need, when and where they need it most. We are grateful for the province’s funding increase for the Land Ambulance Service Grant and Dedicated Offload Nurses Program, which support the Region’s ability to operate 38 ambulances and help alleviate offload delays. Together, we can continue to build a stronger, more connected public health system in Durham Region.”

– John Henry, Regional Chair and Chief Executive Officer for The Regional Municipality of Durham

“Region of Durham Paramedic Services is grateful to the province for the increased funding to our Land Ambulance Service Grant and Dedicated Offload Nurse program. This increase will help our service to address the pressures of increasing call volumes and the added demands on Durham Region hospitals related to the growth we are seeing in our communities.”

– Troy Cheseboro, Chief, Region of Durham Paramedic Services

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES