In conjunction with a recent hospital funding announcement in Guelph by the province, Centre Wellington councillor Mary Lloyd notes more money is being allocated to a local program that helps to reduce the number of “frequent flyer” calls for local ambulance service.
On July 25, Lloyd told fellow councillors she was excited to hear about the additional $3 million being allocated to Guelph General Hospital, Groves hospital, Palmerston and Louise Marshall hospitals, which will help provide emergent mental health assessment care.
“There has been a committee working very actively on that, with the lead being the CEO of Guelph General Hospital,” said Lloyd, who added there was another announcement for an additional $100,000 for a program spearheaded by Guelph-Wellington EMS.
“They are visiting areas of Guelph and throughout Wellington County where what ambulance service providers call ‘frequent flyers’ have been appearing,” Lloyd said.
She added these people could be financially vulnerable, or seniors “who are using the ambulance as almost a friendship or extension of their life.”
An example would be someone experiencing a slight heart palpitation calling the ambulance.
Lloyd said EMS is holding social events inside seniors’ buildings where people can come down and have blood pressure checked, have their medications checked and have discussions, creating a social time around health.
“It’s going over very well and the Ministry (of Health) has provided an additional $100,000 specifically to Guelph-Wellington to continue this project as they are now seeing a dramatic drop in the number of frequent calls from these individuals,” said Lloyd.
A July 21 press release on the issue states that patients in Guelph-Wellington would benefit from “more than $100,000 to continue the local Community Paramedicine pilot program that provides home visits from paramedics to seniors and other patients living with chronic health conditions.”
The program also allows paramedics to apply their training and skills beyond emergency response and transportation to an emergency department and helps senior and other patients live independently.
