City Receives Funding to Provide Community Care Programs

Nov 6, 2014

For immediate release                                                                            
Thursday, November 6, 2014

City Receives Funding to Provide Community Care Programs

The City of Greater Sudbury is pleased to have been awarded $402,900 from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) to launch two Community Paramedicine Programs in Greater Sudbury, aimed at improving access to care for patients with chronic conditions. The funding is part of a $6 million investment in the expansion of 30 community paramedicine programs in Ontario. 

“We are pleased to have Greater Sudbury to be one of the selected communities in Ontario to receive funding for Community Paramedicine Programming. Studies have shown that when Paramedics are able to refer patients to local services, educate, manage and treat patients with chronic diseases in their homes results in repeat emergency calls and hospital admissions decrease.” said Tim Beadman, Chief of Fire and Paramedic Services. “I am proud to see our Paramedics take steps beyond traditional emergency response to help our community stay healthy and reduce requests for 911 services.”

Greater Sudbury Paramedic Services submitted proposals in April 2014 and has been awarded funding for two pilot programs to help seniors and vulnerable population groups to live independently for longer and help in reducing emergency room visits and readmissions to the hospital.

  • $300,000 for the Transitions Care Program, in partnership with Health Sciences North and the North East Community Care Access Centre, will see Paramedics providing follow up care and monitoring for select patients in their own homes after being discharged from the hospital with a chronic condition such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes and dementia. Three specially trained Advanced Care Paramedics will be assigned to the program.
  • $102,900 has been awarded for the Health Promotion Community Paramedic Program aims to reduce demand for paramedics and health costs through focusing on education surrounding injury prevention and early recognition of illness. The program will assist older adults and the vulnerable population, including the homeless, by providing wellness checks at seniors’ housing as well as soup kitchens and emergency shelters. 

In total, four Paramedics have been reassigned to support the operation of these two pilot programs. Extensive training for the Paramedics will take place over the next few months with the two programs expected to be fully operational in January 2015.

The funding is part of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s $6 million investment to support the expansion and development of community paramedicine initiatives across the province to help older adults and other patients receive care in their homes, while reducing unnecessary emergency department visits and hospitalizations. 

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