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During one day in June, Ottawa paramedics declared a “level zero” — meaning they had no one to transport patients — that lasted seven and a half hours.

Photo by Ashley Fraser / Postmedia

Ambulances account for about one-quarter of all emergency arrivals. The Ottawa Hospital entered into an agreement last December to offload patients on arrival at the hospital, but as of yet has not been able to do so.

A number of programs are underway to fix that situation, but things have yet to improve.

Hospital officials say the situation is complex and relates to the high number of ALC, or alternate level of care, patients filling beds because they have no place suitable to go. That crowding backs up the entire system, something that is especially evident at the emergency room. Since June, emergency room waits at The Ottawa Hospital have also become longer because of the introduction of a electronic health record system called EPIC.

Di Monte says those are all issues that belong to the hospital, not the paramedic services, and hospitals should not rely on paramedics to help solve them.

Photo by Postmedia files

Di Monte says he is not criticizing hospital staff, who are doing their jobs, and he acknowledges there are meetings to discuss solutions, but adds it is past time for a solution.

“This is an institutional problem. It is not up to us to resolve. It is up to them to resolve,” he said.

“I don’t want to get involved in the management of the institution. I just know what is happening. They are impacting us to the point of being in a crisis and I am no longer comfortable with where we are at.”

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