On Friday, Northumberland County Deputy Warden Mandy Martin was joined by MPP David Piccini, Northumberland Paramedics Chief Susan Brown, and community member Bruce Gilley to celebrate the official launch of full-scale operations for the Community Paramedicine for Long-Term Care program.
This program offers innovative home-based care to eligible seniors throughout the county, including:
• 24-7 access to in-home and remote health services
• non-emergency home visits
• in-home testing procedures, such as blood pressure readings, 12-lead electrocardiograms (ECGs), oxygen saturation tests, blood draws, blood glucose readings, weight measurements, and more testing procedures to come
• ongoing monitoring of vital signs for chronic medical conditions
• assessments, referrals, diagnostic procedures and point-of-care testing.
These preventative care services are available to seniors who live in Northumberland County that are either on the waitlist for long-term care, have been assessed as eligible for long-term care but are not yet on a waitlist, or are soon to be eligible for long-term care.
In the words of Northumberland County resident Bruce Gilley, “My experience with the Community Paramedicine for Long-Term Care program has been extremely positive. The medical checkups I have received through the program have provided me with a sense of security, and reduced my reliance on 9-1-1 services. The Community Paramedics have a very prompt response time. It is clear that they love what they do and wish to perform at their best. I appreciate the connections I have formed with paramedics through this program.”
The Community Paramedicine for Long-Term Care program is delivered by a team of dedicated certified paramedics who have completed an additional 100 hours of specialized training in areas such as geriatrics, comorbidities, lab work, point-of-care testing, medication interactions, mental health, palliative care and blood draws.
The program launched initial services in May after receiving one-time funding from the Province and has been progressively expanding intake. The program is supported until March 2024.
The program has now reached full-scale operations and Northumberland Paramedics are inviting community members who would like to refer themselves or someone they care for (a family member, neighbour, friend, etc.) to the program to call client services at 1-833- 718-1942 or complete the referral form on our website at Northumberland.ca/CPprogram.
Health care partners can also refer their patients to the program using the OCEAN eReferral System or by fax at 905-373-8567.
