FALL RIVER, Mass. — Southcoast Health has eliminated paramedic position across all six of its urgent care locations, citing state regulations that restrict paramedics’ scope of practice in these settings.
On March 10, the organization laid off its final 10 paramedics, concluding a gradual phase-out that began over a year ago. Executive Vice President Renee Clark stated that the transition was necessary to ensure compliance with state regulations while maintaining efficient patient care during a challenging respiratory illness season, ABC 6 reported.
“Unfortunately, due to state regulations that limited the scope of practice for paramedics working in urgent care centers, we had to make the difficult decision to transition away from utilizing these providers at Southcoast Health Urgent Care,” Clark said. “To best support them, and our urgent care teams, we began this transition process over one year ago with the goal to respectfully allow our paramedics to adjust to the new role limitations and begin looking for other opportunities that would better fit their skills and expertise.”
Clark acknowledged the difficulty of the decision and emphasized that Southcoast Health is committed to supporting affected employees in finding new opportunities within or outside the organization. She also expressed gratitude for the paramedics’ service and praised urgent care teams for their dedication to the community.
