Ontario Connecting People to Faster Emergency Care

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

Windsor  — The Ontario government is investing over $26 million in Windsor and Essex County to connect people to emergency care faster and increase the availability of ambulances.

“Adding more nurses to the emergency departments in our hospitals is allowing paramedics to offload patients and get back out into the community more quickly where they are needed.” said Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Andrew Dowie. “This innovative and practical program by our government and the Ministry of Health is reducing the ambulance backlog at Windsor Regional Hospital and this funding will ensure our ability to continue to build on that success.”

In Windsor and Essex County, Ontario is increasing land ambulance funding by 8 per cent, bringing the province’s total investment in the region to $25,291,411 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 $1,123,937 for Windsor Regional Hopsital 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. Offload time at Windsor Regional Hospital has now 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.

“By reducing ambulance offload times and enhancing paramedic availability, Essex County EMS is predicting 71 percent decrease in code black minutes this year. Our government’s investment in Essex County’s land ambulance services and the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program is making a tangible difference in the lives of our residents,” says Anthony Leardi, MPP for the riding of Essex. 

“As your representative for Chatham-Kent-Leamington, I’m pleased to announce the increased funding for our land ambulance services and the continued support for the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program. This investment reflects our government’s commitment to ensuring that residents have timely access to emergency care when they need it most. With these funds, we can better equip our communities to handle the growing demand for emergency services, ensuring that every person in our region receives high-quality care in times of need,” says MPP Trevor Jones, Chatham-Kent–Leamington.

“The County of Essex is proud to partner with the Province of Ontario in delivering quality land ambulance services and innovative community paramedicine programs to the residents of Windsor, Essex County and Pelee Island,” said Essex County Warden Hilda MacDonald.

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 Practical Nursing, Medical Laboratory Technology/Medical Laboratory Science, and Bachelor/Honours Bachelor or Bachelor/Honours Bachelor of Science in Nursing students studying at St. Clair College and the University of Windsor for free tuition, books, compulsory fees and other direct educational costs. After graduating, students will need to work in our region for a minimum of six months for every full year of study funded by the grant. 

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