Journal Inquirer
STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. — Two new ambulances, along with two other emergency vehicles, will enable the hospital to more quickly provide transportation of patients to other hospitals if they are critically ill or need a higher level of care, or bring patients home when they are discharged.
Previously, Johnson Memorial was relying on mutual aid from other municipalities or paying private companies. Now the hospital will have its own emergency transportation around the clock.
Currently there is one ambulance that is continually operational, with the second expected to be added to peak hours, said David Koscuk, president of Trinity Health of New England’s Mobile Healthcare.
“This new service will allow for the rapid transportation and care of the most sick and/or injured out of Johnson’s (emergency room)” to care centers throughout the state, he said.
“Johnson Memorial Hospital has long fostered a culture that supports safe, high-quality patient care and service excellence,” said Dr. Robert Roose, the hospital’s chief administrative officer. “The new addition of emergency medical services is the latest example of this commitment to our patients, their families, the Stafford Springs community, and the surrounding area.”
While the hospital intends to close its maternity unit, Roose said that Trinity Health of New England is continuing to invest in local communities, specifically in Enfield, where he said the cancer center is scheduled to reopen in the next few weeks.
“This project has been a long time in the making,” he said. “We are certain and confident that this added convenience and service will help support our efforts to not only deliver for the community, but to deliver that in a way that exceeds expectations and delivers on excellence in every encounter.”
Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Roose said, health care has been “increasingly going mobile,” and the need for transportation “has become ever more important.”
The emergency services have been in operation at the hospital for about two weeks, and the benefits are already clear as more than 60 patients have already used the new emergency vehicles, Koscuk said.
“In the past, it could’ve been hours upon hours waiting for ambulances to come from other towns as far away as Hartford and Manchester,” he said, adding that “EMS is at a bit of a crisis here in Connecticut” as volunteers and paid staff are in short supply.
Hospital officials were presented with a citation from the General Assembly, delivered by Sen. Jeff Gordon, R-Woodstock, and Rep. Carol Hall, R-Enfield.
Gordon said the new service shows that Johnson Memorial Hospital cares about the community and its residents.
Nonetheless, Trinity and Johnson Memorial officials are attempting to close the hospital’s birthing and labor unit, and are in the process of getting approval from the Office of Health Strategy.
One concern among critics is the longer distances women would have to drive to a different hospital to give birth.
The added emergency transportation at Johnson Memorial could be used to bring those women to other hospitals, and provide transportation to anyone else in the area who needs ambulance service, Roose said.
“We will use these vehicles for the transport of any patients that have needs,” he said. “That would include men, women of all ages, and any conditions.”
The hospital is also facing potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for not going through the proper regulatory process with OHS before closing its labor unit in 2020. The fines are in dispute and whether Johnson Memorial will have to pay them is not yet clear.
As a faith-based organization, the new ambulances were blessed on Friday, followed by a ceremonial ribbon cutting.
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