Ontario to expand paramedicine services to all eligible seniors
The provincial government is expanding its paramedicine services to all eligible seniors in Ontario to provide intermediate care for those waiting to enter the long-term care system.
Friday morning, Minister of Long-Term Care Rod Phillips along with Toronto Mayor John Tory announced more than $80 million to expand the Community Paramedicine for Long-Term Care program.
The program allows local paramedics to offer care for seniors in their own homes, as they wait for admission into long-term care.
The government says the program is one piece of the province’s larger strategy to combat waitlists in the sector.
“It supports clients through home visits so that you could have a smaller vehicle with one person, a highly skilled professional of course, go to see a senior that is in need of some sort of care…but also so you don’t have to send necessarily, sometimes often on an unplanned basis, a full EMS ambulance vehicle,” Tory said at a press conference in Toronto.
The program, which is currently active in 33 communities, will be implemented in an additional 22 communities, making the service available to all eligible seniors in the province.
“Today’s program expansion includes many nearby communities like Durham and Peterborough, but also many northern and Indigenous communities,” Phillips said.
In Oct. 2020, the program was piloted across five communities and has provided home visits and services to seniors throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The home visits take about 45 to 90 minutes each depending on the nature of the visit and they can happen either on a routine basis or in response to real time requests that come from seniors, or from their families or sometimes even from their healthcare providers,” Tory said.
Tory added that the program can reduce the use of 911 services by up to 50 per cent in Toronto as seniors represent almost half of those emergency calls.
The announcement comes after a recent poll revealed that nearly 90 per cent of Ontarians aged 55 and over say they want to continue living in their homes and avoid retirement and long-term care homes as long as possible.
As of May 2021, over 38,000 Ontarians were on the waitlist to access a long-term care bed.
The government says it will be investing over $2 billion in total development investments for long-term care which will lead to thousands of new and upgraded retirement and nursing home spaces across the province.
In Dec. 2020, the province also launched its long-term care Staffing Plan which aims to provide nursing home residents an average of four hours of direct care per day by 2024-2025.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
'A huge difference': These adults born in the '90s partnered with their parents to buy homes in Ontario
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
OPINION No reunion between Prince Harry and the King signifies a setback for royal unity
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
How Drake and Kendrick Lamar's rap beef escalated within weeks
A long-simmering feud between hip-hop superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a boiling point in recent days as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks. Here’s a quick overview of what’s behind the ongoing beef.
NEW For their protection, immigrants critical of China and India call for speedy passage of Canada's foreign interference legislation
Canadian immigrants threatened by hostile regimes are urging parliamentarians to quickly pass the 'Countering Foreign Interference Act' so they can feel safe living in their adopted home.
Ontario man devastated to learn $150,000 line of credit isn't insured after wife dies
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
Spanish prosecutors recommend 2nd investigation into Shakira's taxes be thrown out
Spanish state prosecutors recommended Wednesday that an investigating judge shelve a probe into another alleged case of tax fraud by pop star Shakira.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.