If an application being made to the province is approved, Community Paramedicine will become a reality in Sault Ste. Marie.
A report headed to the District of Sault Ste. Marie Administration Board on Thursday November 23, 2021, explains how the money for Community Paramedicine (CP) would be obtained.
“In 2019-20, the Ministry of Long-Term Care started a program focusing on the growing wait list for long-term care with paramedic services that had existing CP programs. Recently the MLTC announced an expansion of the Community Paramedicine for Long-Term Care (CPLTC) program to support more communities in helping individuals safely stay in their own homes for as long as possible, while also providing peace of mind for caregivers,” states the report. “The funding commitment over the fiscal years 2020-21 to 2023-24 totals over $170 million for Stages 1 and 2 of the CPLTC program, recently Stage 3 and an additional $82.5M was announced: our service was identified as eligible to be included in this expansion.”
Three categories of people would qualify to be treated by the CPLTC program.
- those on the wait list for long-term care
- those who have been assessed as eligible for long-term care by a HCCSS Care Coordinator (but not yet on the wait list)
- those who are soon to be eligible for long-term care
If approved, this would allow paramedics to expand their abilities into such things as IV therapy and point of care testing with the oversight of a physician.
The end goal of a program such as this is to relieve some pressure on the hospitals’ emergency rooms. If funding is approved, the program would run until at least the end of the 2024 fiscal year.
“This program will meet many of the desired strategic areas of focus such as working with other agencies and partners to close gaps in the health care system, and focusing on the priority long-term care housing crisis,” explains the report. “The professional, non-emergency health care that paramedics are able to deliver into homes will also relieve some call volume and [offload] pressures at the hospital Emergency Department.”
Stay with SaultOnline/ONNTV as we bring you updates on this story as they become available.
Never did understand this program. This is what RNs and RPNs are for, and they are much more cost effective, have a greater skillset for home-care issues and have a broader scope of practice that doesn’t need as intense oversight by physicians… Especially with the RN prescribing and other scopes being increased soon it would be by far more logical to send nurses to these patients.
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