By Geneviève Picard

In June 2022, the Ottawa Paramedic Service and Hôpital Montfort launched a pilot program that integrates Primary Care Paramedics into the Montfort Emergency Department. The program aims to reduce paramedic offload delays, increase the availability of paramedic resources in the community, and improve patient flow within the hospital.  “The challenges we face in healthcare are requiring us to rethink the way we do things and to challenge the status quo”, explains Martine Potvin, Vice-President, Patient Experience, Clinical Programs and Chief Nursing Executive at Hôpital Montfort.

The program includes four Primary Care Paramedics working 12-hour shifts in Montfort’s Emergency Department, providing 12-hour coverage, seven days a week. When an ambulance arrives, the patient’s care can be transferred from the transporting paramedic crew to the paramedic working in the Emergency Department. This allows the paramedic crew to return to the community so they can be available for the next call.

While working in Montfort’s Emergency Department, each paramedic can monitor and care for up to four patients at once. The paramedics work within their professional scope of practice under the medical direction of an Emergency Department physician. The Emergency Department physician provides the paramedics with the authority to perform various medical procedures and diagnostic tests. This promotes improved patient offload, continuity of care, and patient flow within the hospital. Montfort is the first hospital in our city to implement this integrated approach.

Daily, Montfort is seeing a reduction in paramedic offload delay in the Emergency Department. For example, over the course of one day in September, one paramedic eliminated over 30 hours of offload delay by caring for seven patients during their shift.

Montfort covers the staffing costs of the Primary Care Paramedics working there. The program was initially piloted for a three-month period and owing to its success has been extended until September 30, 2023.

“The integration of paramedics into our emergency team is one example of how we are rethinking the way we work”, adds Ms. Potvin. “It is also a reflection of the resilience of our staff, who are dedicated to providing an exceptional experience, with you, for you.”

The partnership between the Ottawa Paramedic Service and Hôpital Montfort demonstrates the innovation and leadership of both organizations in responding to community needs, requests for service and an ever-changing healthcare landscape.

“This program is just one of the impressive efforts by the Ottawa Paramedic Service to continuously improve its services to our growing city”, said Jim Watson, speaking at one of his last event as Mayor of the City of Ottawa. “My thanks to Montfort for its leadership in this important initiative.”

“On behalf of the Ottawa Paramedic Service, I am proud to partner with the Montfort on this exciting initiative and remain committed to working with local hospitals to identify additional strategies for reducing offload delay and increasing our ability to respond to the needs of Ottawa’s communities”, added Pierre Poirier, Chief of the Ottawa Paramedic Service.

Geneviève Picard is the communications director at Montfort Academic Hospital.