Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones was at the Hastings-Quinte Paramedic Services Headquarters in Stirling today to announce a $910 million investment to increase the availability of ambulances across the province.
Hastings County is receiving a $10.7 million Land Ambulance Services Grant.
Jones says the increase in base funding will help municipalities address increased costs so they can continue to deliver high-quality emergency care.
Included in the overall provincial investment is $33 million for the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program of which Hastings County is receiving nearly $400,000.
“The Dedicated Offload Nursing Program allows paramedics to get back out in the community faster by helping hospitals hire more nurses and other eligible health professionals who are focussed on offloading ambulance patients in hospital emergency departments.”
Hastings-Quinte Paramedic Services Chief Carl Bowker says these are two of several investments that have improved service.
“Investments have been made in community paramedicine to support our seniors along with funding to serve our Indigenous communities better. Outside these direct investments, we have seen significant improvements to the public sector radio network, and dispatch centres are being equipped with the latest technologies ensuring that 911 calls are appropriately triaged and ambulance services have the capacity to respond to life-threatening emergencies.”
Jones says provincial investments have reduced ambulance offload times by more than 50 per cent since 2022.
