NON-URGENT PATIENT TRANSPORTATION - NOMA

1 Resolution #: 2013-12. NON-URGENT PATIENT TRANSPORTATION . Submitted by: NOMA Resolutions committee Background WHEREAS NON-URGENT PATIENT TRANSPORTATION concerns have become increasingly frustrating and expensive for municipalities;. WHEREAS Municipalities in the Northwest, either directly or indirectly through their DSSABs, are currently directing and funding Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to provide out-of-hospital health care and emergency service that aligns with police and fire services;. WHEREAS each time a NON-URGENT transfer request is filled there is a compromise in the ability of EMS to provide emergency 9-1-1 or emergency inter-facility TRANSPORTATION service;. WHEREAS many communities have only one ambulance available and the next closest ambulance is often hours away;. WHEREAS currently a staffed ambulance is leaving the municipality for hours, even a day at a time to deliver NON-URGENT patients - leaving the municipality without any mandated EMS vehicle and paramedic staff which multiplies risk to the citizenry, and cost to the municipality.

2 WHEREAS in many of these cases, an ambulance that is in transit with a NON-URGENT PATIENT will be called back to the community to assist with an emergency, leading to significant delays for the emergency PATIENT , and often leaving the NON-URGENT PATIENT stranded;. WHEREAS the provision of NON-URGENT TRANSPORTATION by EMS is not only highly inefficient and ineffective, but also unreliable, causing frustration on all sides;. WHEREAS the vast majority of non-emergent and NON-URGENT inter-facility transfers in Southern and Urban Ontario are provided by private sector medical transfer service companies currently not available or providing services in Northern & Rural Ontario;. WHEREAS in many cases in Southern Ontario these non-emergent and NON-URGENT inter-facility transfers are funded at 100% by the Province of Ontario through existing hospital budgets;. WHEREAS this is unacceptable and unaffordable.

3 Resolution THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED That the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association call on the Province of Ontario to immediately fund 100% of the cost of non-emergent, NON-URGENT inter-facility transfers provided by Emergency Medical Service(EMS) providers, or by providing funding to hospitals for the purchase of services from non-ambulance transfer services. Committee Recommendation Convention Action This resolution was originally adopted in 2010. It has been updated and the language strengthened. Concurrenc