Hospital board tables night ambulance issue

CLINTON — The issue of night ambulance coverage surfaced again on Monday at the regular meeting of the Dr. John Warner Hospital board. In June, the board discussed returning night coverage to include two on-duty ambulances.

The service was reduced to one night ambulance in January. Hospital CEO Earl Sheehy said during the June meeting that patient transports, times when patients were actually transported to Dr. John Warner Hospital, averaged about two per night. He said ambulances were less likely to be occupied at night than compared to daytime and that the use of mutual aid from neighboring ambulance services was much less common at night.

The hospital is scheduled to end its ambulance service at the end of December, citing a $500,000 annual operating loss. The county recently approved a plan to continue ambulance coverage for most of the county. Its ambulance advisory committee is expected to recommend an ambulance provider at the August county board meeting.

Voters approved in March a referendum to levy a tax to support funding for ambulance service.

Hospital board members again on Monday debated the merits of returning its service’s nighttime coverage to two ambulances until its obligation to provide service ends in December.

For the complete article see the 07-24-2012 issue.

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