5°c Clear
17°c Sunny
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Little progress in ambulance ER wait times
Katz points to new cash to relieve strain on staff
Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service Chief Reid Douglas with Mayor Sam Katz in a new ambulance. (JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store
Related Items
Winnipeg ambulances still wait more than an hour to unload patients at city emergency rooms nearly two years after the city started to fine hospitals for excessive delays.
On Wednesday, Mayor Sam Katz reiterated the city's pledge to spend more money on a new ambulance for Winnipeg streets and an additional 12 paramedics in 2013. Katz said the city already has some of the fastest response times in the country, but the move is expected to help ease the strain on paramedics, who continue to face delays at city hospitals.
The city's $920-million operating budget includes $569,138 to pay for the additional ambulance staff, along with $659,500 more for the fire-paramedic budget to add 10 new dispatch operators.
The city started in April 2011 to charge hospitals for delays that left paramedics waiting to unload patients. Initially, the city billed $113 per hour for each time paramedics waited more than 90 minutes. The threshold then dropped to 60 minutes.
The city planned to eventually charge hospitals for delays longer than 30 minutes, but health officials say that goal is "not realistic."
Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service officials confirmed the average ambulance waited 65 minutes to unload patients at city hospitals in 2012.
Finance chairman Coun. Russ Wyatt (Transcona) blamed the ongoing delays on the province, saying city ambulances are being tied up because provincial officials do not want to say they have hallway medicine. He said it's up to hospitals to come up with a long-term solution to get paramedics back on the street faster.
Winnipeg continues to spend more of its annual operating budget on paramedics and police, which combined, eats up 44 per cent -- $406 million -- of the city's total spending on programs and services. City spending on the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service will rise by $8.9 million in 2013, largely due to an increase in personnel, salaries and benefits.
Helen Clark, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority's EMS and police liaison, said no one wants to see delays in drop-off times, and health officials are working to make things better. Clark called it a "complex problem," particularly due to congested ERs that get a large number of visits.
She said officials are working closely with the province to examine ways to take patients to alternatives places other than the ER. Clark said there's a possibility paramedics could assess stable patients and direct them to wait to see a family doctor or visit a quick-care clinic.
She said hospital charge nurses can admit some ambulance patients to the ER waiting room to free up paramedics. Respiratory therapists can also take over an ambulance's patient during the day before they are seen by an ER doctor and when more than one ambulance is waiting, one crew unloads a patient to the second crew so it can return to the road.
Between January and August 2012, city hospitals were invoiced for slightly more than $1 million in ambulance drop-off delays.
"None of us really want that delay to occur," Clark said. "We want the paramedics to get back on the street and for patients to get back into treatment spaces."
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 11, 2013 A5
More Local
- Back to Top
- Return to Local
More Local
(1 of 19 articles for today)
Canada-U.S. border closed at Gretna
1:00 AM 0THE Canada-U.S. border crossing at Gretna has been temporarily closed due to overland flooding from the Pembina River in the ...
Poll
Most Popular Local
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- 2 dead in crash near Portage la Prairie
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- Core grocer a challenge: expert
- Famous city grocer loved job, customers
- Links plan loses on scorecard
- Thompson RCMP looking for violent suspect
- A new mom's booze-fuelled hell
- Apple trick on Ellen falls short for city woman
- Firefighters put out blaze in Manitoba Avenue home
- Charleswood deaths being investigated as domestic incident
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- Sex charges for ex-club boss
- Police identify slaying victims
- Apple trick on Ellen falls short for city woman
- Aboriginal leader Elijah Harper dies
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- 'Responsible Winnipeg' ads appear on sign run by mayor-owned Goldeyes' baseball park
- Woman killed in head-on crash in southwestern Manitoba
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- A child-custody catastrophe
- Charleswood deaths being investigated as domestic incident
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- Co-worker 'sick' today? Maybe it's the $17M flu
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- '2 minutes after I read the winning numbers, I retired': Winnipeg lotto winner
- Parents, community relieved and elated as missing boy found safe
- No threat from bag found at Winnipeg Square
- Man missing since 2009 found safe
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Core grocer a challenge: expert
- Famous city grocer loved job, customers
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- Manitoba appointees violate feds' rules
- Francophone paper turns 100, digitizes all editions
- 'It's a beautiful story': There's not always a tomorrow to say you're sorry or make things right
- The end of the credit card?
- Apple trick on Ellen falls short for city woman
- She's helping the STARS that saved her
- Crushing blow for amateur sport
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Aboriginal leader Elijah Harper dies
- Fishing for fashion
- Woman killed in head-on crash in southwestern Manitoba
- Core grocer a challenge: expert
- Sex charges for ex-club boss
- Grocer Joe Cantor dies at 88
- Famous city grocer loved job, customers
- Newly minted MD a beacon for kids in youth program
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- Mental-health patients get own ER
- A child-custody catastrophe
- An uncommon phenomenon
- Steen invests $1M in family entertainment centre
- Earls on Main going, but new one coming
- Province introduces changes to rules governing landlords, renters
- Crushing blow for amateur sport
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Boost same-sex curricula: union
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.