Paramedicine program helping out North Island residents

The Community Paramedicine Initiative is proving successful on the North Island.

Port Hardy was one of the first communities chosen to roll-out the new program, which expands the role of paramedics to provide in-home care in non-urgent settings.

Spokesperson Jamie Keamo says the program has made a big difference in health care services, since it began in April 2015.

Keamo says one of the biggest challenges for the program is a lack of knowledge that it exists.

He says the goal is to expand the program to other communities across the North Island, including Port McNeill, Port Alice, Alert Bay and Sayward.