Ontario to expand program allowing paramedics to avoid ERs in patient care
Ontario will announce a plan for "health system stability and recovery" this week, Health Minister Sylvia Jones said Wednesday, revealing that one part will be to expand a program that allows paramedics to avoid taking patients to the ER on every call.
The minister made her remarks in a speech to the Association of Municipalities Ontario conference in Ottawa, as a nursing staffing shortage has seen emergency departments across the province close for hours or days at a time throughout the summer.
There are no easy solutions, but "bold and innovative" steps are required to improve patient care, Jones said in her speech.
"We can no longer stand by and support a status quo that cannot respond to the current challenges the sector is facing," she said.
"Instead, guided by the best evidence and the successes of other jurisdictions, our government will take bold action that prioritizes patients and their health care above all else."
The first phase of the paramedic pilot project was launched in 2020 with programs in more than 40 municipalities that allow paramedics to take patients somewhere other than an emergency room, such as a mental health facility, or to treat them on scene.
Initial results show patients are accessing care 17 times more quickly and 94 per cent didn't go to the ER in the few days following care, Jones said.
"These successful innovative projects allow people, including palliative care patients and those experiencing mental health and addictions challenges, the option of receiving more appropriate care at home or in the community, avoiding a visit to the emergency department," she said.
Jones said those 911 models of care are being expanded to more municipalities, but doesn't specify how many or where in her speech.
The province is also expanding when paramedics can safely and effectively provide treatment, starting with minor acute illnesses and injuries such as falls, and chronic conditions such as diabetes and epilepsy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.