Starting September 30th, non-urgent out-of-town or long distance EMS patient transfers will be a thing of the past.

According to a press release from the Timmins and District Hospital, they will no longer be involved in such transfers, limiting local Paramedic service to areas within Timmins from 7:00am to 7:00pm (subject to availability).

They say it’s the “final stage of a service deployment plan that the DCSSAB has been implementing over the last few years.”

As for what’s happening moving forward, TADH says they’re buying non-urgent patient transfer services from the private sector until the Northeast Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) has a non-urgent transportation solution in place.

“Until that time,” they say, “Depending on the availability of the private service, patients may experience longer wait times for their non-urgent transfers.”

“TADH continues to work with CDSSAB and the LHIN on the implementation of a non-urgent patient transport system. TADH is participating in the LHIN-led RFP process over the next few months to secure a private sector solution that will provide non-urgent transfer services between our regional hospitals.”

The plan, they say, will see the addition of three non-urgent transportation vehicles in the district. One would be stationed in Timmins, one in Kapuskasing and one for the Highway 11 corridor to service the areas of Cochrane, Iroquois Falls and Matheson.

Filed under: Local News