Community Paramedicine for Long Term Care (CPLTC) - Issue Report - January 28, 2021

Report To: Manitoulin-Sudbury District Services Board
From: Paul Myre, Chief (A) Paramedic Services

Date: January 28, 2021

Re: Community Paramedicine for Long Term Care (CPLTC) - Issue Report
 

Purpose

To provide the Board with information on a 3-year funding proposal opportunity for Community Paramedicine funded by the Ministry of Long-Term Care.
 

Background

The Ontario government is accelerating its expansion of Community Paramedicine programs by investing $14.5M this fiscal year to support more communities. The Ministry of Long-Term Care has invited an additional 29 communities with existing Ministry of Health or Ontario Health funded Community Paramedicine programs to express their interest in receiving funding to implement CPLTC starting in the 2021-22 fiscal year. Communities interested in moving quickly to implement the program were invited to submit a budget and implementation plan if they meet the following criteria:

• Existing CP programs can be expanded quickly to meet the needs of the target Long Term Care related population.
• Ontario Health has signed-off on the proposal and is committed to maximizing local resource rather than replace or duplicate existing or new resources from other CP programs.
• There is existing local community paramedicine capacity, specifically trained paramedics, without risk to emergency medical services.
   

Community Paramedicine for Long Term Care (CPLTC)

The Long-Term Care sector is faced with increasing capacity pressures. As of August 2020, the wait list to access a bed had more than 38,000 people on it. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this capacity challenge. There has been an estimated reduction of approximately 6,000 beds due to Long-Term Care homes implementing COVID-19 protocols, such as restricting admissions into multi-bedrooms and creating space for isolation. The goal of the CPLTC framework is to help address system capacity issues by supporting individuals to safely stay in their own homes for as long as possible, while also providing “peace of mind” for caregivers. It will do this through preventive and responsive care, such as home visits and remote patient monitoring. This 100% provincially funded program will focus exclusively on seniors in three categories of eligibility:

• Those on the waitlist for long-term care
• Those who have been assessed as eligible for long-term care by an Ontario Health Care Coordinator (but not yet on the waitlist); and,
• Those who are soon to be eligible for long-term care. 

The CPTLC is program is based on four guiding principles:

1. Accessible: 24/7 access to Community Paramedicine services for non-emergency procedures in their own home and health system navigation support.
2. Responsive: Prompt, flexible, proactive, and patient-centred response to changing circumstances or medical conditions and if necessary, connection to the right health care provider at the right time in order to avoid escalation and crisis.
3. Proactive: Systematic, routine-based remote or home monitoring to prevent emergency incidents or escalation in medical conditions.
4. Safe: Certain diagnostic procedures and treatments can be provided at home and if required, under appropriate medical oversight.
    

Conclusion

On January 7th, 2021, Paramedic Services submitted our budget template and implementation plan based on a notional funding allocation of one million dollars per year or $250,000.00 per quarter. Should we be successful in securing this funding, we would need to be fully operational for the 2021-22 fiscal year.

If the 3-year funding is approved, staff will develop a plan that includes staffing profiles for this time limited 3-year project.