Huron County’s Paramedic Services has received some one-time funding from the province for its Community Paramedicine Program.
Chief of Emergency Services Jeff Horseman says the program is called High Intensity Supports at Home.
“So it allows our community paramedics to go to clients that need help managing chronic disease or things like COVID treatments and COVID vaccinations and influenza vaccinations, phlebotomy work, so blood draws, and palliative care if need be,” Horseman said.
Horseman added the funding comes through Ontario Health and the goal is to allow people to get treatment in their home.
“The overall goal is to treat people and allow them to stay in their own residence as long as possible, so we’re trying to mitigate emergency visits, keep people from being admitted into alternate care beds in hospital or even into long term care if it’s not required,” he said.
Horseman says the $399,000 in funding allows them to have two full-time community paramedics and that covers their cost of delivering the service for one year. Horseman says the province is looking at alternate funding methods and he believes it is possible they’ll get the same, or similar, funding again next year.
