Shown standing (left to right) in Chestertown are: Bobbie Jo Trossbach, RN, Emergency Department Clinical Coordinator; Sandy Prochaska, MSN, RN, Nurse Manager, Acute Care and Emergency Services; Cindy Simmons, RN, Emergency Department Staff Nurse; and Crystil Heinefield, RN, Emergency Department Staff Nurse. In the driver’s seat is Elizabeth “Libby” Woolever, Chester River Health Foundation Board Chair.
With the beautiful rural counties that make up Maryland’s Eastern Shore comes an inherent challenge – how to transport patients needing medical care in a timely fashion. Often, trips between University of Maryland Shore Regional Health (UM SRH) facilities can take several hours. Faced with this challenge, the University of Maryland Chester River Health Foundation (UM CRHF) worked on a solution with UM SRH’s parent organization, the University of Maryland Medical System.
UM CRHF, which supports patient care programs at UM Shore Medical Center at Chestertown (a UM SRH hospital), recently agreed to provide $372,00 to fund a pilot program that provides a dedicated ambulance for the transfer of non-critical patients between hospitals, emergency centers and tertiary care (rehab and skilled nursing) facilities on the Eastern Shore. The pilot involves a dedicated ambulance from Butler Medical Transport, stationed at UM Shore Medical Center at Chestertown.
“The ambulance completed its first transport within two hours of being put into service on May 1, from the Chestertown hospital to a nursing home with a patient who has been discharged from the Emergency Department,” said Dylan Seese, Senior Operations Manager for Butler. “During the first month of service, the ambulance made 144 trips (20% more than anticipated) and traveled 5,000 miles (over 700 miles more than expected).
More than 1,000 Kent County patients require transfer each year, with an average round-trip time between three and four hours. “About 70% of the transfers involve the need for a higher level of care or a specialty service not offered in our Chestertown hospital,” said Sandy Prochaska, MSN, RN, Acute Care & Emergency Services Nurse Manager in Chestertown. “We also transfer patients from other UM SRH facilities to Chestertown for inpatient care.’
“In the past, the wait for ambulance transport has made it difficult to ensure timely patient discharges and prompt admission of new patients coming from our emergency departments,” said LuAnn Brady, UM SRH Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “The new ambulance service based in Chestertown serves patients who need timely transport to a tertiary care facility or to another hospital for specialized care, and also those who are ready to be discharged but transportation is an issue. The first month of service saw the average wait-time for ambulance transfer reduced from around six hours to within the hour.”
“I cannot think of a more effective or important way for the Chester River Health Foundation to use the funds entrusted to us for the benefit of the people we serve, as well as for our clinical staff, than to support this essential patient care project,” said Libby Woolever, Chair of the UM CRHF board.
“Staffed around the clock seven days a week, this new transportation resource is not just a service but a significant contributor to improving patient care. It has led to significantly shorter wait times for discharge and transfer from UM Shore Medical Center at Chestertown and also allows for shorter wait times for those patients coming to Chestertown from other Shore Regional Health facilities,” said Ken Kozel, President and CEO, UM SRH. “We are very grateful to the board of the Chester River Health Foundation for their generous and timely support for this pilot project and for their ongoing interest in advancing health care programs and services that benefit our patients and clinical care teams around the region, underscoring the value and significance of this initiative.
Jane E Hukill says
Bravo to the CRH Foundation for this very needed service. Rural hospitals all over the country are suffering because of the lack of sufficient ambulance service. It is nice to know that this group of people on the CHR Foundation board are willing to step up to the task and try to solve or help to solve this serious problem for our local patients. Those who have donated to the foundation can now know that their money is working for our local community.
Melinda Bookwalter says
This is terrific!
We live in Millington and have nearby ER’s in Chestertown (12 miles), Middletown, DE(17 mi) and Easton (40 mi).
We needed ambulance transport in May, it was timely, the service was excellent but Chestertown could not give us the tests or a bed and indicated it could take 2-3 days. The very kind ER Dr. arranged for us to call Easton the next morning for tests and we left the ER AMA.
Chestertown does not have the extensive services available that Middletown or Easton has.
Living where we do, are we able to choose Middletown for ambulance service to the ER there? It is only 5 miles further than Chestertown and 23 miles closer than Easton.
Again, it is terrific to have more ambulance service available for when it is needed.