By Bradyn Wilcoxen
The Southern Illinoisan
MARION, Ill. — The Deaconess Illinois Medical Center will soon be home to a new EMS building serving the Southern Illinois region.
Hospital administrators and local leaders broke ground on a Deaconess Illinois EMS building on the Marion campus on Friday, celebrating what will soon be a vital hub for medical transport for the area.
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Will Davis, president of Deaconess Illinois, said the groundbreaking represents a significant investment in connecting patients to the care they need in a timely manner.
“Our commitment to EMS is rooted in one core belief, that when people need care the most, access and timing matter,” Davis said. “This new facility will strengthen our ability to support patients who require that specialized care while improving our response and coordination across the region.”
With the new building, Deaconess Illinois EMS will relocate from its current base in Harrisburg to Marion, making for a more centralized location for the region.
Todd Test, operations manager for Deaconess Illinois EMS, said handling patient transfers will help other local EMS agencies stay focused on emergency response and community-based care.
“Our crews are entrusted with patients during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives,” Test said. “This new facility allows our crews to be better equipped and better positioned to support patients across the area.”
While Deaconess Illinois owns three area facilities, including those in Marion, Anna and Mount Vernon, EMS will work beyond that scope to include other hospitals in the area regardless of ownership.
The facility will host four ambulances with living space inside allowing EMS staff to stay during their shifts. Along with regional transport, it is also crucial to provide access to centers of higher care such as in St. Louis, Evansville, Indianapolis or Nashville.
Harry Brockus, chief administrative officer of Deaconess Illinois Union County, said patients in Anna will have significantly shorter wait times to be transferred to higher care facilities.
“I’ve had patients sit in my emergency room for 24 hours waiting for an ambulance to arrive to take them to a higher level of care, because we didn’t have access to that care,” Brockus said. “We’re solving that problem here today, bringing our own service in to make sure those patients receive equitable care.”
The building is expected to be completed in May.
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