WRH’s hiring of 7 offload assistants may pull resources from already-strained paramedic system, says union

In an effort to prevent Windsor-Essex from re-entering “Code Black” — which is declared when there are no ambulances available to immediately respond to emergency calls — Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) is looking to hire seven paramedics that will assist with ambulance offloads.

However, the union representing local EMS workers is concerned the move may hamper an already-strained paramedic system.

The hospital currently works in tandem with paramedics who are employed by Essex-Windsor EMS to offload patients from ambulances into the emergency room.

EMS officials have previously said patient offloads are taking far too long, tying up ambulances and preventing them from getting back on the road in a timely manner.

This new initiative would see seven paramedics employed directly by Windsor Regional Hospital as “ambulance offload assistants.”

“We’ll be creating permanent full-time positions just to help recruit and retain individuals to our community so that they stay here. We know we’re gonna need that,” said WRH’s Vice President of Emergency Services, Jonathan Foster, and added the new hires will also free up EMS resources.

“Seven was the number we came up in order to staff both campuses equally, seven days a week during our peak hours. They would collaborate with the offload nurse to oversee the care of patients as they come in by ambulance,” he explained.

The idea of paramedics directly under the hospital’s employ comes with concerns for James Jovanovic, the president of CUPE Local 2974 that represents EMS workers in Windsor-Essex.

“We already have a severe staffing issue in Essex-Windsor so that’s seven full-time paramedic positions that won’t be able to contribute in that capacity to EMS,” said Jovanovic.

While seven may seem like a small number to some, Jovanovic added, each paramedic is vital.

“Six full-time paramedics is approximately 1,000 working hours per month. That’s significant. One-thousand working hours per month goes a long way as far as staffing our ambulances,” he added.

In response, Windsor Regional Hospital said its goal is “not to deplete anybody’s workforce.”

“We want to cast a wide net to be able to look at any types of candidates who are interested in applying to us, including people who may have left the region seeking permanent full-time employment elsewhere in the province. We would hope that this would be an opportunity to bring them back,” said Foster.

“We can also look at people who are coming out of school. I think we have to see who is interested and who applies [for these ambulance offload assistant positions],” he added.

However, the union is not convinced applicants from out-of-town will apply, resulting in all seven positions being occupied by Windsor’s existing paramedic pool.

“They might not get interest unless there’s enough enticement in the positions to draw people from out of area,” said Jovanovic.

Windsor Regional Hospital said it does not have an exact timeline on filling the offload assistant positions, but a spokesperson says they are hoping to do so “as soon as possible.”