AJAX - Ontario is expanding its successful Pay-for-Results Program (P4R), which will help Ajax-Pickering Hospital reduce ER wait times and ensure that residents of Ajax and Pickering can get the emergency care they need, sooner.
Ajax-Pickering hospital will receive $547,800 in Pay for Results funding to implement initiatives that will help it reduce ER wait times. Last year the hospital was able to reduce its ER wait times by 6% thanks to funding from the P4R program.
Since it was created in 2008, the program has already helped the 46 participating hospitals reduce ER wait times by 23 per cent. The program helps hospitals meet specific ER wait time reduction targets.
This year, 71 Ontario hospitals will receive Pay-for-Results funding. All of them have committed to treating more patients within the targets, aiming to improve by 15 per cent over the course of the year.
To reach the target, hospitals will use the funds to do things like:
§ expand staffing as part of emergency department teams and reorganize how these teams interact to encourage more collaboration,
§ create designated areas within the ER to ensure rapid assessment and to improve patient flow.
Reducing ER wait times builds on the government’s Open Ontario plan to provide more access to health care services while improving accountability for patients.
QUOTES
“My patients deserve timely, high quality care when sudden injury or illness takes them to our Ajax-Pickering hospital ER. I will continue to work with our Ajax-Pickering hospital to ensure their ER is running as efficiently as possible with our great health care team.” -- Joe Dickson, MPP, Ajax Pickering
“I’m so encouraged by the results participating hospitals have achieved since we launched the Pay for Results program in 2008. I’m excited to expand this program so we can keep building on this success.”
-- Deb Matthews, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
QUICK FACTS
· Ontario now reports all surgical and ER wait times online at www.ontario.ca/waittimes
· There are 163 emergency rooms in the province, with 2.8 million people making 5.25 million visits to these ERs each year.
LEARN MORE
· Learn about the alternatives to a hospital ER.
· Find out more about the reporting of the time spent in ERs.
