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Ambulances used for transportation raising concerns
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Posted on May 27 2008
For several months now, the Emergency Medical Services has been providing transportation to dialysis patients, raising concerns that people in actual emergencies will not get timely care because the ambulances are busy elsewhere.
Of the 98 patients in the hemodialysis program and eight on the peritoneal dialysis program, two are being transported to the dialysis unit via ambulance and 11 are transported via Saipan Call-A-Ride.
According to Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez, “There is always a concern that the ambulances will be tied up with other emergencies and cannot transport some of these patients to CHC [Commonwealth Health Center].”
He said the main reason for using ambulances to transport these patients is that they are either bedridden or need the assistance of EMS personnel to be transported to CHC.
Call-A-Ride clients have also expressed their concerns over the growing number of dialysis patients seeking transportation assistance from the Saipan Call-A-Ride.
This has caused people to be late for work and at times absent for days at time as there is not enough transportation, according to Lydia Igitol, head of the Center for Living Independently.
The program currently has one accessible van and one minivan providing transportation for up to 700 people with disabilities.
According to Villagomez, a new company will emerge in the coming weeks to provide transportation services to dialysis patients to and from their scheduled dialysis appointments.
“This service is reimbursable by Medicare and while the EMS ambulance may at times be taxed to transport these patients, they are being paid by the Medicare program to do this transportation. In fact, some of the funds to keep the ambulances running well and stocked with supplies come from funds realized by transporting dialysis patients to and from their dialysis appointments,” Villagomez said.
