Ontario expanding paramedicine program to all eligible seniors

The provincial government says it will expand its paramedicine program to all eligible seniors across Ontario to provide intermediate care for those waiting for long-term care beds.

Minister of Long-Term Care Rod Phillips and Toronto Mayor John Tory announced the $82.5 million investment Friday morning at a Paramedics Services station in East York.

The program allows paramedics to offer care for seniors in their community, with visits lasting 45 to 90 minutes each depending on the nature of the visit. Tory says the program also helps alleviate pressure on the city’s EMS teams.

“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.”

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The program was originally piloted in five communities in October 2020, but has since expanded to 33 communities. That number will grow once again, with 22 more communities benefitting from the service.

“Today’s program expansion includes many nearby communities like Durham and Peterborough, but also many northern and Indigenous communities,” Phillips said.

Visits under the Community Paramedicine for Long-Term Care program can be done on a routine basis, or in response to requests from seniors, their family or healthcare providers.

“It takes a great deal off the minds of their relatives and loved ones that they know that this kind of care is available,” Tory said. “The past 20 months have demonstrated the need for that care, and how much of a role that it plays, and the importance of protecting and supporting our seniors.”