ELY- The results of the long-anticipated study on ambulance service in the region are finally available. SafeTech Solutions, of Isanti, the consultants hired by Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital, will present the conclusion of their analysis to the general public at 4 p.m. next Thursday, June 13, at the Ely Senior Center, located at 27 S. First St. E.
Frustrations over financial problems with the Ely Area Ambulance Service prompted the hospital’s board of directors to investigate better ways to fund local ambulance services. Last August, the hospital hired SafeTech to offer recommendations on “how to set up an ambulance service for success.” At the time, EBCH CEO Patti Banks told the members of the Ely Area Ambulance Joint Powers Board that the study would “look beyond Ely for that answer, potentially encompassing other area services in northern St. Louis and Lake counties.”
SafeTech specializes in business solutions for rural EMS and has a national clientele. The goal of their study was to develop scenarios for sustainable EMS services in our region. The firm interviewed and gathered data from the ambulance service in Ely, as well as Tower and Babbitt. The study results encompass several scenarios for both local and regional EMS. The event on Thursday will summarize those scenarios.
Banks said she does not see the study as the end of the conversation on regional EMS, but rather a starting point. “We want people to see the study results at the presentation with the hope they will then discuss them afterward,” Banks told the Timberjay.
“The presentation is not intended to be a time for discussion about the scenarios presented,” stated Jodi Martin, the hospital’s marketing and communications team leader in an email to the Timberjay. “Understandably, each entity will need time to discuss and process the information independently.”