Ontario Connecting People to Faster Emergency Care

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

The Ontario government is investing $16,510,247 in Bruce and Grey counties to connect people to emergency care faster and increase the availability of ambulances.

Funding through the Land Ambulance Service Grant (LASG) has been increased in Bruce County by 6% and 4% in Grey County bringing the total investment to $16,455,647 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 that paramedics encounter when dropping patients off at a hospital, Ontario is investing $54,600 in the County of Grey through the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program (DONP) to help with the costs of offloading ambulance patients in hospital emergency departments.

This 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 patients.

“The increase to base funding through the Land Ambulance Service Grant will greatly help ensure that patients in our communities can continue to receive excellent ambulance and emergency care,” said Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Rick Byers.

“When it comes to emergency care, we know time is of the essence and seconds count,” said Simcoe-Grey MPP Brian Saunderson. “This investment will give our vital front-line emergency care teams even more tools to better treat patients faster and effectively.” 

“Bruce County appreciates continued support for Paramedic Services from the Ontario Government,” said Bruce County Warden Chris Peabody. “This funding ensures that the region’s residents and visitors continue to receive high-quality and rapid emergency care.”

“The Land Ambulance Services Grant ensures Grey County can continue providing residents and visitors with exceptional emergency care as call volumes continue to rise,” said Grey County Warden Brian Milne.

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

  • 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.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES