A program designed to reduce turnaround at a Windsor hospital has reported significant success.
Windsor police reported via social media on Monday that its Dedicated Officer Program at Windsor Regional Hospital's Ouellette Campus has dramatically reduced the turnaround time for police officers who wait in the emergency department with patients who are vulnerable or in crisis.
So far this year, officers are waiting an average of 18 minutes to complete a patient transfer, despite an increase in total hospital trips.
In 2022, before the program was launched, the wait averaged between three and 11 hours per transfer.
"Amidst an increase in mental health and substance-related calls, officers are bringing more and more patients to the emergency department," said Windsor Police Inspector Jennifer Crosby. "This partnership makes patient transfers much quicker and frees up officers to respond to urgent calls across Windsor and Amherstburg."
In 2023, Windsor police teamed up with WRH to assign dedicated officers to the hospital to wait with people in crisis, thus freeing up other officers to head back on the job.
The Dedicated Officer Program cooperates with the Nurse Police Team (NPT), which sends WRH nurses into the downtown core with police officers on peak evenings to provide on-the-spot medical care, making an emergency department visit less likely.
The program also works with the Crisis Response Team, which pairs officers with social workers experienced in de-escalation techniques and mental health care.