Ontario Investing in Land Ambulance Services in Oxford

Investments in emergency care help address increased costs

August 22, 2024

WOODSTOCK — The Ontario government is investing $8,149,782 in Oxford to connect people to emergency care faster and increase the availability of ambulances.

“This increase in base funding will help Oxford emergency services address increased costs so their paramedics can continue to deliver high-quality emergency care,” said Ernie Hardeman, MPP for Oxford. “It’s important to all of us that they are equipped to provide exceptional, patient-focused emergency care in our community, each and every day.”

In Oxford, Ontario is increasing land ambulance funding by three per cent, bringing the province’s total investment in the riding to $8,149,782 this year. This increase in base funding helps ensure municipalities address increased costs so they can continue to deliver high-quality emergency care.

We continue to invest in the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program to hire more nurses and other eligible health professionals dedicated to offloading ambulance patients in hospital emergency departments. As a result of this, provincial ambulance offload time has been reduced by more than 50 per cent since its peak in October 2022.

To ensure urgent patients receive critical care sooner, Ontario is also continuing to implement the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) across the province. The system helps to better prioritize and triage emergency medical calls and dispatch paramedics sooner. Over the last year, the province has rolled out MPDS to Mississauga, Kenora, Thunder Bay, Ottawa and Renfrew, and are accelerating progress to implement the system at the 15 remaining dispatch sites across Ontario over a year ahead of schedule.

With Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the government continues to take action to strengthen the health care system so that it is responsive and is evolving to meet the health needs and priorities of Ontarians, no matter where they live.