This is a page from the 2023 Prince Edward Island general election.
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Health & Healthcare

Ambulance and emergency wait-times platforms

Here's what the 2023 PEI election parties are promising.

PC
  • Hire more physician assistants and nurse practitioners to provide Emergency Room care
  • Provide funding to organisations providing non-urgent patient transfers

    "Providing funding to organizations such as Pat and the Elephant, Transportation West, and others to do the non-urgent transfer of medically stable patient transfers on PEI. This funding would include covering transportation costs as well as providing funding for the necessary equipment and vehicles to provide patient transfers" — peipc.ca, 2023-03-07

  • Offer recruitment incentives for rural paramedic positions
  • Provide free tuition for primary and advanced care paramedics who serve in PEI for two years
  • Add four full-time ambulances
  • Show 4 more promises...
  • Provide up to $20k more funding to fire departments offering Medical First Responder services
  • Hire more care providers and patient advocates to provide waiting room support
  • Set up a task force to create a plan for reducing delays when offloading patients from ambulances
  • Make virtual care apps like Maple free

Green
  • Increase paramedic wages, at least to be in-line with other Maritime provinces
  • Add paramedic positions

    "Add paramedic positions within the public healthcare system." — 2023 Election Platform, 2023-03-23

  • Create a restorative care unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to reduce stress on ERs

    "The program includes physiotherapy, occupational therapy, exercise, leisure, therapeutic activities, and education/information sessions.

    Emergency Rooms are often filled with patients waiting for longer-term beds in the hospital. Additional restorative care beds, especially at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, will help transition patients more quickly out of the ER and reduce wait times. Restorative care generally requires lower staffing levels and less highly trained staff than emergency departments. This makes it a more efficient use of limited staff resources than keeping patients for longer stays in emergency." — peigreens.ca backgrounder, 2023-03-16

  • Reduce or eliminate fees for non-urgent transportation services for people in need

    "Reduce or eliminate fees for transportation services like Pat and the Elephant and Transportation West." — peigreens.ca backgrounder, 2023-03-10

  • Add dedicated staff to ER waiting rooms to do assessments and communicate with patients

Liberal
  • Provide ER workers compensation commensurate to the stress and difficulty of the job

    "Ensure emergency medicine offers compensation commensurate to the stress and difficultly of working conditions so that nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, and other health care providers view emergency medicine as an attractive specialty of the health profession." — Healthcare First: An Action Plan for Islanders, 2023-03-22

  • Add Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants to ER teams

    "Leverage other health professionals such as Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants to become part of the ER care team to address shortages and improve access to care" — Healthcare First: An Action Plan for Islanders, 2023-03-22

  • Expand access to primary care in non-urgent settings

    "Expand access to primary care in non-urgent settings to divert patients away from ERs." — Healthcare First: An Action Plan for Islanders, 2023-03-22

  • Invest in interim residential services and restorative care beds

    "4. Invest in interim residential services and facilities for medically discharged patients who need supports prior to returning home;

    5. Invest in restorative care beds so that medically discharged patients have an appropriate care setting to go to recover with the required medical supports" — Healthcare First: An Action Plan for Islanders, 2023-03-22

  • Create a new Patients' Rights Act with an independent officer to adjudicate complaints

    "A New Patients’ Rights Act that gives Islanders legal rights when it comes to timely access to healthcare services: The Liberal Party believes that Islanders deserve the right to timely, legally guaranteed access to healthcare services, regardless of where they live in PEI. This Act will define the rights that Islanders will have regarding access to healthcare. Implementation and enforcement of the Act will be a ministerial responsibility accompanied by an independent officer of the Legislature to adjudicate complaints and recommend corrective and/or remedial action." — Healthcare First: An Action Plan for Islanders, 2023-03-22

  • Make the Premier in charge of healthcare for two years

NDP
  • Expand Holland College's paramedic training programmes
  • Provide clear standards for the delivery of ER services and ambulance response times
  • Create a publicly-owned agency to operate extramural emergency medical services
  • Provide speical bonus funding for secure staffing at district hospital emergency rooms
  • Hire physician assistants to ease pressure on regional hospitals

Looking for the parties' positions on other topics?

See our full 2023 PEI election platform comparison