(Audubon) The Chief Operating Officer at Audubon County Memorial Hospital refers to ambulance transfers to Des Moines, Omaha, and Council Bluffs as an ongoing issue over the last several years that has gotten worse recently.
Paul Topliff tells KSOM/KS95.7 News that the hospital is working diligently to find a solution including exploring sharing agreements with other counties or facilities. A helicopter is available at the Audubon airport so emergency situations are handled with very prompt timing. However, “We also have a category of patients who don’t require immediate transport. In other words, they come in and get stabilized. Then if we don’t have the capability or facility to take care of the, for example someone has had a heart attack and needs a catheter placed or something like that, we can stabilize the patient and put them in a holding patter where they are not in dire danger, but we also need to transfer them out to go to another facility where they can to continue their care.”
Topliff believes the hospital is on the right track when it comes to their effort to improve matters for patient transfers and anticipates a solution as soon as possible. It’s a problem that is common among rural hospitals. “It’s gotten particularly bad over the last year or so. Most ambulance companies usually are private services. It’s a for profit business so if you don’t have enough business on a consistent basis most companies are not going to place an ambulance in your area to provide service because they won’t make money.”
Topliff stresses emergency services that involve transportation to the hospital in Audubon have been terrific. “We have no issues at all with 911 services in Audubon County. In fact the EMT’s and people that volunteer for that service are actually very selfless in that regard. Most of those people all have full-time jobs elsewhere, they work in the private sector, and they do this completely out of the goodness of their heart and as a service to the community. They have a pretty substantial roster of people, so there is no delay in anyone calling 911 in Audubon County. They usually have a rig rolling out within a matter of minutes. They render great care.”
