Via Huron County Paramedic Services, Facebook
Huron and Bruce counties are getting millions of dollars in new funding to help paramedics respond to emergency calls faster.
The Ontario government is investing more than $8.5 million in Bruce County and more than $8.4 million in Huron County through the Land Ambulance Service Grant.
The funding will help support local ambulance services, cover rising costs and make sure more paramedics and ambulances are available in the community.
Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson says every second matters during a medical emergency. She says the investment will help reduce delays and make sure help is available when people need it most.
The provincial government says its total land ambulance funding for Huron and Bruce counties is now more than $16.9 million this year.
Across Ontario, the province is providing more than $1 billion in land ambulance funding to municipalities, an average increase of nine per cent from last year.
The province is also investing another $33 million through the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program. The program provides nurses and other health professionals to help take over the care of ambulance patients when they arrive at hospital emergency departments.
This allows paramedics to leave the hospital sooner and get back to the community for their next 9-1-1 call.
The province says ambulance offload times have dropped by about 68 per cent since their peak in October 2022.
Health Minister Sylvia Jones says the drop shows the province’s plan is helping improve ambulance availability and access to emergency care.
