NEWS RELEASE
MPP DONNA SKELLY
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The Ontario government is investing over $4.5 million through the City of Hamilton to connect people to emergency care faster and increase the availability of ambulances.
“Our government continues to make investments that connect people to the care they need more efficiently,” said Donna Skelly, MPP for Flamborough-Glanbrook. “This funding will help address increased costs so that our health care professionals can continue to deliver high-quality emergency care in our community.”
“Our ambulance services help save lives, and reducing offload times means that paramedics can get back out in the community more quickly,” said Neil Lumsden, MPP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek. “That’s why I’m proud that our government has increased funding to Hamilton’s ambulance services by nearly $5 million and is providing $2.7 million for the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program. This investment will ensure that people can continue to get the care they need, when they need it.”
In Hamilton, Ontario is increasing land ambulance funding by 16 per cent, bringing the province’s total investment in the region to $35,589,470 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 $2,759,400 in Hamilton 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.
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