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8- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday September 13, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com CABINET REFACING Halton regional councillors critical of `band-aid' solution for ambulance delays By Stephanie Hounsell SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER No Payments, No Interest for 6 Months O.A.C. FREE In Home Consultation A one-time infusion of cash may help deal with Halton's hospital offloading delays, but Halton Region staff and councillors aren't holding their breath. "It certainly won't hurt and it may be of some help," said Halton Medical Officer of Health Dr. Bob Nosal at the Region's Health and Social Services Committee meeting Tuesday. The Region is poised to receive a grant from the provincial government for up to $125,000 that will go toward nurses who will specifically receive ambulance patients in hospital emergency departments (ED), states a staff report. They'll provide patient care and supervision of five or six patients at a time until the hospital can take over, allowing EMS resources to return to the community. The funding is for the 2008/09 fiscal year. "Ideally, this would eliminate the majority of offload issues during periods of peak demand," the report states. Offloading delays occur when a hospital is atcapacity and can't provide a bed for a patient brought in by ambulance. Paramedics must therefore continue providing care to the patient at the hospital, usually in the emergency department hallway, preventing the ambulance from leaving and being used for another emergency. The paramedics are sometimes there for up to 13 hours. Last year in Halton, there were several occasions when no ambulances were available to respond to local calls. The amount of time lost to offloading delays each day is equivalent to two ambulances being out of service for an entire 12-hour shift, Nosal said. That added up to about $1.4 million in lost vehicle staffing last year, Nosal told the councillors. Halton's is one of 14 EMS services in Ontario receiving the funding. Regional Chair Gary Carr said it seems the Province has given this relatively small amount simply to say it's done something. "We need to say, `Thank you minister for that, but this in no way is going to help with the problem.'" The money will fund one full-time equivalent nurse -- but isn't enough for two -- and council must decide to which of Halton's four hospital emergency departments the nurse will go, said Nosal. He said the worst off-loading issues are at Burlington's Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital. There's also the question of what to do if that one nurse gets inundated with patients, he said. Committee Chair Jeff Knoll agreed it's not enough money. "It's a Band-Aid, but the Band-Aid is too small," he said. Jim King, director of Land Ambulance Services, said there are some concerns over if there's even enough space in the emergency departments for this plan and how soon a nurse could be hired. It's unknown right now if there will be any additional provincial funding beyond March 31 of next year for this purpose. Committee members supported a staff recommendation to give the official go-ahead to receive the funding. The item will go before regional council Wednesday.