Paramedics spent 53,000 hours delayed at hospitals in 2019

Ottawa paramedics continue to face long delays atemergency rooms before they can transfer patients into a hospital's care, spending more than 53,000 hourswaiting in 2019.

The latestannual city report on the state of the city's paramedic service shows that the long-standing issue has not improved.

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Those hours paramedics lost having to care for patients peoplewho have been triaged but not yet transferred to the hospital representmore than $7.7 million, or the equivalent of 64 full-time paramedic positions, the city reported.

The target is to make the transfer in 30 minutes so that paramedics can keep taking calls in the city, but those so-called "offload times" for adults last year were, on average, two or even three times longer than the goal atfour hospital sites:

• Ottawa Hospital, Civic campus: 102 minutes
• Ottawa Hospital, General campus: 101 minutes
• Queensway-Carleton Hospital - 83 minutes
• Montfort Hospital - 63 minutes

"The system is under constant pressure, which can inhibit our ability to respond to emergency situations," wrote acting paramedic chief Peter Kelly in his report.

Hospital CEOs to attend committee

Kelly went on to acknowledge that the root causes for the delays might be related to broader issues such as available hospital beds and human resources, but that such issues areoutside of the city's control.

In the meantime, paramedics are responding to more calls each yearas Ottawa's population grows and gets older.

The delays at hospitals mean paramedics are sometimes tied up with no one available to take calls, a situation known as "level zero".

Over the years, the city and hospitals have tried, or promised to try, various things, such as a nurse dedicated to taking patients from paramedics, or diverting patients to ER waiting rooms.

• 'Hard work ahead' to alleviate ER delays, Ottawa Hospital says
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ButCoun. Jenna Sudds,chair of the community and protective services committee, saidthe city needs an immediate plan.

The committee chose not to discuss the report at its meeting Thursday, but to postpone it to thenext one on October 15.

That'swhenSudds said the CEOs of the Ottawa Hospital, Montfort Hospital and Queensway-Carleton Hospital have committed to attending to discuss the problems and how to fix them.