Local hospitals receive $1.65 million in funding to reduce ambulance offload delays

Waterloo Region – Region of Waterloo Paramedic Services and the region’s three hospitals are announcing receipt of $1,654,380 from the Ministry of Health to support the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program. This funding for staff offload positions in emergency departments is intended to free up ambulances and paramedics to return to communities as soon as possible to provide more people with access to timely emergency care.

This one-time funding will be shared by Cambridge Memorial Hospital, Grand River Hospital and St. Mary’s General Hospital to support the 2023/24 funding year. This is a significant increase in funding from previous years. It will support an increase of Designated Offload Nurse coverage in each hospital’s emergency department to 24 hours a day, seven days a week until March 31, 2024.

Applying for additional funding through the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program is just one way Paramedic Services and local hospitals are working together to address the issue of offload delays.

Quotations:

“Alleviating offload delays frees up our paramedics to be out in the community helping people and saving lives. Thank you to the provincial government and our local hospital partners for your commitment to the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program.”

– Karen Redman, Chair, Regional Municipality of Waterloo

“Region of Waterloo Paramedic Services continues to work closely with our hospital partners to implement efficiencies that ensure paramedics are returned to the community and available for all those calling 911 because of a medical emergency. We are grateful that the Region of Waterloo is being provided with this significant increase in funding from the Ministry of Health to substantially enhance the existing Designated Offload Nurses Program in all three of our community hospitals.”

– John Riches, Chief of Paramedic Services, Region of Waterloo Public Health and Paramedic Services

“Cambridge Memorial Hospital welcomes this investment for additional funding through the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program. By working together, we can ensure valuable paramedic resources are able to respond to the community’s needs and assure offloaded patients are safely monitored and assessed.”

– Stephanie Pearsall, VP Clinical Services & Chief Nursing Executive, Cambridge Memorial Hospital

“Grand River Hospital is proud to welcome this funding increase, together with our hospital partners at St. Mary’s General and Cambridge Memorial Hospitals. The Dedicated Offload Nurses Program is an example of our health system approach and partnership that is a win-win for our patients and our community. Patients will continue to receive high quality care at our emergency departments and paramedics will get back on the road sooner.”

– Kate Robertson-Cain, VP Clinical Services & Chief Nursing Executive, Grand River Hospital

“The Dedicated Offload Nurse Program helps to ensure that care is there when it is needed the most— both in the community and within our local hospital Emergency Departments. St. Mary’s is grateful for the province’s increased investment in this program that has been a proven success, having helped in reducing offload times while also providing patients with the care most suited to their needs. It is just one of the many ways that we continue to work together to address the needs of the patients in our community.”

– Brandon Douglas, VP Clinical Services, St. Mary’s General Hospital

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