Michael Nolan’s passion for providing care to people living in rural and remote communities began while living in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, serving rural and remote Indigenous communities as a critical care flight paramedic for the Ontario government.

Experiencing the health, social and economic challenges facing Canadians and health-care providers in rural and remote communities, Nolan was inspired to identify opportunities for paramedics to contribute to a solutions-based approach to promoting interprofessional practice in prevention programs, acute care and primary care settings.

As a pioneer of community paramedic practice across Canada and internationally, Nolan carried forward his rural experiences, learnings and the voices of his patients to create co-design models and international standards to guide programs servicing the specific needs of rural, remote and Indigenous paramedic practice.

With the support of the County of Renfrew, Province of Ontario, Ontario Health and health system partners, Nolan co-led the creation of the Renfrew County Virtual Triage and Assessment Centre (VTAC), ensuring that all residents of Renfrew County have access to a primary care physician for a virtual visit and community paramedics for in-person care. Having served over 100,000 patients since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nolan is very proud of the team’s achievements and that VTAC continues to ensure that nobody suffers in silence.