By Hannah Kaufman
Morning Sentinel
WATERVILLE, Maine 鈥� With the area鈥檚 only inpatient hospital closing in June, rescue crews are grappling with the cost of transporting patients out of the city to receive emergency medical support.
After Northern Light Inland Hospital鈥檚 closure, rescue services facing higher-than-ever call volumes may be forced to send crew members to hospitals 20 miles away or farther, leaving stations short-staffed in the event of a fire or other emergency. With each municipality balancing time and resources, the area鈥檚 dense web of mutual aid may be stretched thin.
Chief Jason Frost of Waterville Fire-Rescue said the hospital鈥檚 closure could strain emergency medical services in the city. Waterville transported 3,800 patients on emergency medical calls last year, he said, and a little more than 900 of those went to Inland.
鈥淥n the surface, this is a big deal,鈥� Frost said. 鈥淎nd then as you peel everything away, it鈥檚 like: This is even bigger than I thought it was. We鈥檙e working on it every day.鈥�
Frost and other Waterville-area fire chiefs will discuss the future of the region鈥檚 emergency services Thursday with representatives from MaineGeneral Health Center, which operates Thayer Center for Health, an outpatient center in Waterville. If the hospital cannot handle a large portion of Waterville鈥檚 900 transports, Frost said the department will have to take patients to Augusta or Skowhegan.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have to start running farther to bring patients to the hospital, which is going to have a big impact on health care in the cities, for sure,鈥� Frost said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e able to do what we do with two ambulances because we have two hospitals that are so close to us. But if those don鈥檛 exist anymore, we鈥檙e going to have to make some changes, and that could affect our budget.鈥�
The hospital announced its June closure in early March. The notice comes in the middle of budget season, when municipalities have outlined costs and await town approval. Others have locked in next year鈥檚 spending already, before the change was made public.
Some municipal budgets have already been adjusted. Chief Mike Murphy of Winslow Fire Department said he requested an extra $2,000 from the town for fuel, counting on extra revenue from ambulance billing to make up the rest.
鈥淲e were lucky we were in the process of building the budget when this came up, so I was able to ask for extra funds for the fuel,鈥� Murphy said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 going to impact all the way around. I mean, we get paid per loaded mile, so it鈥檚 going to affect everybody. Higher pay, but the insurance companies, once it affects them, how are they going to react?鈥�
Outside of Thayer, the closest hospitals are Redington-Fairview in Skowhegan or MaineGeneral Medical Center inpatient hospital in Augusta. It鈥檚 possible Thayer will direct ambulances toward the other hospitals, said Chief Travis Leary of Clinton and Fairfield鈥檚 fire departments.
鈥淭he talk has been that if Thayer is overwhelmed, they鈥檒l have to basically go on diversion, and that will mean that we鈥檒l have to transport down to Augusta,鈥� Leary said. 鈥淪o obviously that will be more wear and tear on the trucks, more fuel, cost and time.鈥�
Frost said the Waterville Fire Rescue budget is already in the City Council鈥檚 hands. A budget workshop is scheduled during a special meeting 6 p.m. Thursday 鈥� an opportunity to discuss impacts on fuel, truck maintenance and travel time.
Time on the road means time away from the station. The region鈥檚 mutual aid network allows multiple departments to assist on fire calls or cover the occupied department鈥檚 station, but the system works only when crews also have time and resources to respond to their own emergencies.
Murphy said a group of local fire chiefs met in late March and reinforced their promises of mutual support.
鈥淲e all sat down, and we all discussed it, and we鈥檙e pretty much just going to back each other up,鈥� Murphy said. 鈥淎nd then if we get a long transfer, we talked about doing a crew call back for people to cover the station where the longer transports take place.鈥�
Crew staffing isn鈥檛 what it used to be. Leary said Fairfield and Clinton are already short full-time firefighters, but over the last couple decades, the number of volunteers firefighters on their call list shrank from 35 to 14.
鈥淐all volume has increased tremendously over the years, and staffing hasn鈥檛,鈥� Leary said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just been a constant battle for us.鈥�
The closure of the hospital also marks the end of Inland and Purdue Global鈥檚 simulation center. Frost said the center has been a cost-effective boon to training paramedics, and without it, Waterville鈥檚 training budget may spike.
Fire chiefs hope to get answers to their questions at meetings this week. Murphy said the sooner departments can prepare, the better.
鈥淭here鈥檚 so many unknowns,鈥� Murphy said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to prepare 鈥� we鈥檙e trying our best to prepare for the worst, but not knowing what the worst is.鈥�
漏 2025 the Morning Sentinel (Waterville, Maine).
Visit .
Distributed by