Investments in emergency care have reduced ambulance offload times by more than 50 per cent
Halton Region — The Ontario government is investing $ 24,565,772 in Halton, including Burlington, to connect people to emergency care faster and increase the availability of ambulances.
“This investment is a tremendous boost for the people of Burlington. By reducing ambulance offload times and increasing funding for emergency services, we’re ensuring that our residents can access critical care faster and more efficiently. The additional support for paramedics and healthcare professionals will help reduce delays in our hospitals, allowing ambulances to return to the community sooner to respond to more 9-1-1 calls. I’m proud to see our government’s commitment to improving emergency care here in Burlington, strengthening our healthcare system, and ensuring that high-quality, timely care remains a priority.” said MPP Natalie Pierre, Member of Provincial Parliament for Burlington.
In Halton, Ontario is increasing land ambulance funding by 6 per cent ($1,269,697,) bringing the province’s total investment in the region to $ 23,107,385 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 $1,458,387 in Halton 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
• Ontario Bolstering Nursing Workforce in Emergency Departments
• Ontario Investing in a Stronger Public Heath Sector
• Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care