Castle Rock Hospital District wants its ambulance service part of Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County’s transport rotation to help offset the ambulance service’s losses.
During a meeting to discuss a possible affiliation agreement between CRHD and MHSC, an issue regarding the hospital district’s exclusion from the rotation was brought up.
Bailie Dockter, CEO of CRHD, said the ambulance service struggles financially, losing approximately $360,000 a year. She said Castle Rock’s ambulances were not included on the call list because their service doesn’t include paramedic-level EMTs, the highest EMT certification. Sweetwater Medics does offer paramedic-level EMTs, a service which comes as a result of paramedic-level training offered by the Rock Springs Fire Department, through which many Sweetwater Medics EMTs are also employed.
“We would like to be part of that rotation,” Dockter said.
Dockter said they were part of the rotation at one time, but received mostly uninsured patients to transport. She also said she doesn’t expect Castle Rock to receive half the transports if included on the list.
Sweetwater County Commissioner John Kolb, the commissioners’ liaison to MHSC, said the county is trying to provide a needed service to its residents as Castle Rock Ambulance Service does, but admits it costs a lot of money. The county provides funding to both Sweetwater Medics and Castle Rock Ambulance Service, but Kolb admits if the payer mix in the county changes, the commissioners may need to provide more funding. Kolb also said paramedic-level EMTs aren’t always needed for a transport.
“It’s always good to have the highest level of service, but you don’t always need the highest level of service,” Kolb said,
If included on the rotation, the ambulance service would be able to offset some of its losses, but without it Dockter said the hospital district may see the demise of its ambulance service even faster.
Patients have a choice in what ambulance service transports them to Salt Lake City, but as Sandee Gunter, a CRHD board member said, that choice isn’t always respected.
Gunter said her husband needed to be transported to Salt Lake City for tests after being taken to MHSC and had personally arranged with Dockter for Castle Rock to take him. During numerous delays in prepping him for transport, Gunter continued following up with Dockter, who told her the ambulance was ready, but wasn’t contacted by MHSC. When an ambulance crew did arrive for Gunter’s husband, it wasn’t from Castle Rock.
“If it happened to me, it’s happening to someone else,” Gunter said.
The original affiliate agreement did not cover ambulance transports, only specialist visits to the hospital district’s clinic. The agreement was suddenly terminated by MHSC late last year, an action which Dockter previously said had surprised her.
During the meeting, both sides expressed a desire to move on and potentially draft a new agreement between the two.
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