MAYOR GAHAN TO MEET WITH HOSPITAL PRESIDENT

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MAYOR GAHAN TO MEET WITH BAPTIST HEALTH FLOYD HOSPITAL PRESIDENT

Later this month, Mayor Gahan will meet with Baptist Health Floyd President Michael Schroyer to discuss ambulance services and 911 response times, among other items.

AMR, the City of New Albany’s ambulance provider, supplied city leadership with an update regarding “drop times” for AMR ambulances from September 1, 2021 to October 1, 2021. Drop Times refer to the amount of time it takes for the local hospital to accept the patient being transported by the ambulance.

According to information from AMR, there are times where it takes as long as 290 minutes (almost 5 hours) for Baptist Health Floyd to accept patients from the ambulance. This forces the ambulance to sit idle while they wait for the hospital to have enough rooms and staff to accept the patient, essentially taking the ambulance out of service while they wait on the hospital.

AMR has been in contact with the leadership of the Emergency Department of Baptist Health Floyd. Baptist Health stated that they are experiencing some staffing issues and have need for additional nurses to care for patients.

“I want the people of New Albany to understand that the number of ambulances serving the City of New Albany has not decreased,” stated Mayor Jeff Gahan. “I believe this is a temporary situation related to labor shortages due to COVID-19. Baptist Health Floyd leadership reached out to our office earlier this month, and I will be meeting with hospital President Michael Schroyer to discuss the issue. We will work with AMR, Baptist Health Floyd, and our own emergency services to improve response times within the emergency healthcare network in New Albany.”

Mayor Gahan has also asked the City Council President to have the Public Safety Committee meet with his staff and examine the matter. The Mayor looks forward to sharing the findings from his meeting with Baptist officials with the City Council and working together on a solution to ensure New Albany residents have access to rapid and swift emergency services.

New Albany Police Chief Todd Bailey has also been in contact with AMR officials, stating that they are a great city partner. Chief Bailey believes that the delays being experienced are not the fault of the ambulance services, and wants to reassure residents that emergency services continue to operate at a high level, despite staffing issues at the hospital.