Ottawa paramedics will not be calling on taxis to help transport some non-urgent patients, as the service had initially planned.
Paramedic Chief Pierre Poirier said in a memo Monday afternoon that the Ontario Ministry of Health did not approve a pilot project that would see some low acuity patients put in taxis to take them to alternate destinations that are “best suited for meeting their immediate and individual health-care needs.”
The pilot project was originally slated to begin Nov. 1, 2023, but Poirier said the proposal to the ministry was not approved in time to meet that launch date. Now, he says, the plan has been rejected completely.
“The Ottawa Paramedic Service has now received confirmation that the Ministry of Health has denied the request to permit a paramedic to offer a taxi service to a patient,” Poirier wrote. “Specifically, they did not approve the use of 9-1-1 paramedics to coordinate alternate transportation options to the emergency department/hospital, including taxi services.”
The goal of the project was to mitigate the effects of offload delay on paramedics and reduce the occurrence of level zero events – where there is no ambulance available to take an immediate call, something that has been happening hundreds of times every year.
Poirier said despite the setback, the use of taxis is still on the table.
“I can confirm that staff continue to explore other options, including the use of community paramedics, to provide care and appropriate transportation (including the use of a taxi) of patients to the hospital,” his memo said.
CTV News Ottawa has reached out to the Ministry of Health for comment.