Kettering Health Network is adding a fleet of medical transportation vehicles to meet increased patient volumes, especially in its freestanding emergency centers and rural facilities.
The network is partnering with Buckeye Ambulance to establish Kettering Mobile Care, a medical transportation service whose vehicles are dedicated solely to transporting patients into and out of the health system’s hospitals, emergency departments and outpatient facilities.
Buckeye Ambulance is a locally owned, private ambulance service company specializing in inner-hospital transports and getting patients to and from doctor office visits and specialty appointments. Headquartered in Kettering, Buckeye Ambulance has stations in Dayton, Kettering, Washington Court House, Greenfield, and Hillsboro as well as a communications center in Moraine.
Kettering Health Network’s fleet of 26 patient transportation vehicles will be one of the largest hospital-branded fleets in Ohio. The fleet includes:
- 2 mobile intensive care units (MICUs)
- 2 response vehicles
- 17 ambulances
- 5 ambulettes
Each vehicle is equipped with electronic medical record technology so paramedics and EMTs can electronically transfer patient medical records to hospitals and medical facilities while in service. Mobile intensive care units and ambulances are equipped with cardiac monitors that transmit EKGs and other vital signs and medical information to physicians and other medical providers.
The vehicles also are equipped with a GPS tracking system designed to provide real-time locational information of each vehicle. This allows dispatchers to send the closest vehicle to pick up a patient, thus lowering response time.
Each vehicle is painted red with Kettering Health Network and Buckeye Ambulance logos for easy identification.
“This partnership between Kettering Health Network and Buckeye Ambulance will greatly improve the continuity of care for our patients,” says Fred Manchur. “Everything we do as a faith-based health system centers around how to best care for the patient. Buckeye Ambulance shares our passion for exceptional patient care and we are glad to work side-by-side with them in serving the residents of southwest Ohio.”
“We are excited to partner with Kettering Health Network to provide the best and most appropriate level of care to patients,” says Dereck Pristas, president and CEO of Buckeye Ambulance. “This medical transportation service model is unique to the area. With this service model, Kettering Mobile Care will be able to increase patient access to network facilities and decrease wait times when patients need to be transported.”
Vehicles initially will be based at several Kettering Health Network facilities, including Greene Memorial Hospital; Fort Hamilton Hospital; the freestanding Emergency Centers in Franklin, Huber Heights and at the Preble County Medical Center in Eaton; as well as Buckeye Ambulance’s Dayton station. Kettering Mobile Care staff will continually monitor and assess the most beneficial locations for vehicles and adjust accordingly.
