Investments in emergency care have reduced ambulance offload times by 68 per cent
[WOODSTOCK] — The Ontario government is investing $10,889,606 in Oxford to connect more people to emergency care faster and increase the availability of paramedics and ambulances in the community.
“Access to timely emergency care can make all the difference when someone is facing a medical emergency,” said Ernie Hardeman, MPP for Oxford. “This investment will help ensure Oxford has the paramedics, ambulances and resources needed to respond quickly and provide care when people need it most.”
In Oxford, Ontario is increasing land ambulance funding by 14 per cent, bringing the province’s total investment in the region to $10,780,406 this year. This increase in base funding helps ensure municipalities address increased costs so they can continue to deliver high-quality emergency care. This investment is part of the more than $1 billion in land ambulance funding Ontario is providing municipalities across the province this year, representing an average increase of 9 per cent from 2025.
In addition, to further reduce delays paramedics encounter when arriving at hospitals to transfer patients, Ontario is investing $109,200 in Oxford through the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program to hire nurses and other eligible health professionals dedicated to offloading ambulance patients in hospital emergency departments.
The program allows paramedics to get back out into the community faster and respond to their next 9-1-1 call sooner and has played a significant role in reducing ambulance offload times and increasing ambulance availability for 9-1-1 patients across the province. As a result of this investment and the collaboration between paramedics and hospital professionals, provincial ambulance offload time has been reduced by approximately 68 per cent since its peak in October 2022.
“Our government is making record investments to protect Ontario’s health-care system and connect people to the care they need, where and when they need it,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “With provincial ambulance offload times declining by nearly 70% since 2022, this shows that our plan is working.”