ParaMed Home Health Care started back in 1991 in North Bay, and today it celebrated its 25th anniversary. A lot has changed since that time. Only four internal staff, 45 field staff, which included nurses and home support workers. Its mandate was simple, to provide nursing care and home support care in North Bay and the surrounding areas.
How do things look now? Now, they have 145 field staff, 10 internal staff and all the technology and software to support those employees. ParaMed is providing actual nursing and home support, physiotherapy and food clinics to areas as far away as Burk’s Falls, Dokis and to Martin River.
The celebration took place at the Kennedy Building on McIntyre Street. ParaMed Contract Manager, Liette Laberge says the theme of the celebration was the success of their centre in providing care. She believes they’ve evolved to redefine what that care means. She says that they are a community of caring people. Mayor Al McDonald, East Ferris Mayor Bill Vrebosch, and Callander Mayor Hector Lavigne were among the local dignitaries present for the celebration.
Other local associations were there to celebrate, the Fire Department, Children’s Aid, Canadore College, the Community Care Access Centre of North Bay among others. Laberge says ParaMed works collaboratively with these groups on a day to day basis. The CCAC team of care coordinators is in touch with their coordinators to make sure peoples’ needs are being met.
As far as the collaborative work with both the City of North Bay and the surrounding areas, Laberge says they work together on things like job fairs and employer panels. Laberge also added that ParaMed takes on a lot of students from the colleges and universities to do their consolidation and their placements for school.
