Ottawa paramedics at 'Level Zero' more than 700 times so far in 2023

Ottawa Paramedic Service vehicles parked at a hospital in Ottawa. (Natalie van Rooy/CTV News Ottawa)

There were no paramedics available to respond to emergency calls in Ottawa more than 700 times in the first half of 2023, as the Ottawa Paramedic Service continues to encounter lengthy offload delays in hospital emergency departments.

A 'Level Zero' event is when there are no paramedics available to respond to emergency calls. There were 750 'Level Zero' events in 2021, and more than 1,800 'Level Zero' events in 2022.

Ottawa Paramedic Chief Pierre Poirier says we have "become numb" to the number of 'Level Zero' events in Ottawa.

"Five years ago, we were concerned about 20 or 30 events at Level Zeros, now when we're in the hundreds, we don't think of it as bad as last year when there were 1,800," Poirier told Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa Now with guest host Andrew Pinsent.

"That really is a sad status of where we're at in terms of the healthcare system."

Poirier provided new statistics on 'Level Zero' events in Ottawa after the Ontario government announced $44 million in new funding to reduce wait times in emergency departments.  The money will allow hospitals to increase capacity to help more patients and reduce the wait time for care.

Poirier says the funding recognizes "the problem" with wait times being experienced in hospitals and "puts money towards it."

"The last part sounds like a negative, but $44 million across the province of Ontario is not a lot of money when it is spread over 100 hospitals," Poirier said. "The little bit will help but we need a heck of a lot more."

Poirier says the offload delays are a healthcare system problem.

"It's easy to blame the hospitals, but I think it's much broader than that," Poirier said.

"The backup in the emergency department is the result of the system backups; its delays in surgeries, alternate levels of care in terms of retirement homes and nursing homes, and the lack of nursing staff. All of those factors backup the emergency department, which backs up the paramedic service."

The head of the Ottawa Hospital says they are still struggling with a staffing shortage.

"We are still short; there are pockets of areas in the organization where we are continuously recruiting," Cameron Love, TOH President and CEO, said.

"At least foreseeable one or two years we will continue to actively recruit as many people as we possibly can."

A spokesperson for Health Minister Sylvia Jones says the minister has been in regular communication with the Ottawa Hospital and met with Mayor Mark Sutcliffe in June to discuss offload delays in hospitals.

"As was reiterated to the mayor during that meeting, Ottawa recently received a top up in funding to $2.6 million through the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program, which was expanded beyond nurses last year to allow for paramedics, physician assistants and respiratory therapists to assist with patient offload," the spokesperson said.

"Our understanding from the mayor is that not all available funding was used. This, combined with the $53 million the province has provided Ottawa in funding for their Land Ambulance Services Grant, has increased ambulance availability by over 30,000 hours in 2022-23."

Poirier says the Ottawa Paramedic Service is advocating for the Ministry of Health and the Ontario government to assist the hospitals "unplug a whole bunch of these items," so paramedics do not end up in an offload delay.

Council approved a new plan last month to hire 23 new paramedics each year over the next three years to improve response times and address offload delays in the emergency departments. The plan includes hiring 14 new paramedics "as soon as possible."

A spokesperson for Jones notes Ontario covers 50 per cent of the costs of paramedics.

"Should Mayor Sutcliffe and Ottawa city council want to increase their budget, the province will be there to match that request.”