Province provides more funding for Essex-Windsor EMS

The Province of Ontario is providing up to $3.61 million more this year to Essex-Windsor Emergency Medical Services, to help free up paramedics faster from hospital offloading, and to help the service cover extra operating expenses.

As part of its Dedicated Offload Nurses Program (DONP) agreement with the County, the Ministry of Health is earmarking up to an additional $1.12 million in one-time funding to Essex-Windsor EMS to assist with patient offload at locally selected hospitals. Funding under this program also may be used for paramedics, respiratory therapists and physician assistants at hospitals who might provide additional support with patient offload.

As background information, when EWEMS paramedics bring a patient to a hospital emergency room they cannot leave the patient unattended. Paramedics must wait for a hospital medical professional to take over care of the patient. This is called offload delay. Increased offload times can negatively impact overall health care, as it can reduce EMS availability to respond to other emergencies, 911 calls or other patient transportation responsibilities.

The Ministry of Health furthermore has raised its maximum funding ceiling in 2025 for Essex-Windsor EMS by up to an additional $2.49 million. This, to help the service cover an increase in operating expenditures since 2024, which include the hiring of an additional 24 full-time paramedics. This money comes from the Ontario government’s Land Ambulance Services Grant (LASG), and raises the maximum funding available to EWEMS in 2025 to $28.37 million.

“This funding is the Ministry of Health backing up our recent investments in pre-hospital emergency medical care for our region. They’re behind us, and it’s appreciated,” said Justin Lammers, Chief of Essex-Windsor EMS.

The Ford government last year earmarked more than $910 million to help increase the availability of land ambulances province-wide, and thus shorten emergency-care wait times.

“When someone experiences an emergency, it is vital that they receive the care they need as quickly as possible,” Ontario’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said in 2024, in announcing the province’s 8% increase in overall LASG funding.