Non-emergency ambulance transfer issues for Ontario's hospitals

The results of hospital restructuring, new technologies, a growing and aging population and the newly introduced Local Health Integrated Networks all impact on the rapidly changing environment and the demands that are being placed on the whole spectrum of health care services. [...] Ambulances are used in emergency and urgent situations (when it is necessary to get a skilled paramedic to the person, then to transfer the person to the hospital), and in non-emergency transfer situations such as transporting a hospital patient to another facility for treatment or specialized test procedures, or returning a patient from hospital to a long term care facility. [...] Page 1 of 6 The now defunct Land Ambulance Implementation Steering Committee was a joint MOHLTC and Association of Municipalities of Ontario committee that oversaw the shared responsibility of the province and municipalities for land ambulance services. [...] The imminent development of Local Health Integrated Networks and the expectation that in the face of inadequate funding of hospitals, there will be rationalization of services, the volumes of non-emergency transfers are expected to increase. [...] The Government of Ontario designate non-emergency inter-facility transfers as part of the ambulance service system and the continuum of care, and provide a funding strategy for NEAT that allows payment to non-emergency ambulance services and/or to existing EMS operations.