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
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Ellen DeGeneres addresses the 'hurtful' end of her talk show in new stand-up set
Ellen DeGeneres is reflecting on how her talk show came to an end in her newest Netflix special, 'Ellen's Last Stand ... Up Tour.'
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
What to pack during an emergency
Knowing what to have at home, or take with you for an evacuation, can be useful and even life-saving.
Regulated area for invasive box tree moth expanded to parts of the Maritimes
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has added much of the Maritimes to a regulated area for an invasive species.
Already expensive, planning for fertility treatment difficult as costs vary widely
Being unable to have a child naturally can be extremely difficult. But when you factor in the high costs of fertility treatments, the range of individual circumstances and the fact that the industry itself is secretive about fees, it can make the whole ordeal even more devastating and hard to plan for.
A healthy lifestyle can mitigate genetic risk for early death by 62%, study suggests
Even if your genetics put you at greater risk for early death, a healthy lifestyle could help you significantly combat it, according to a new study.
Avs forward Valeri Nichushkin suspended at least six months
Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin was suspended for at least six months without pay and placed in Stage 3 of the league's player assistance program.