Emergency Medical Services: What You Need to Know w/ Grossmont Healthcare District

Description

In an effort to facilitate timely and seamless transfers of care for patients transported to the Sharp Grossmont Hospital via ambulance, and reduce wait times for everyone seeking care, the Grossmont Healthcare District regularly convenes a group of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers called the Transfer of Care Collaboration.
“Many individuals and groups have an interest in what we call the ‘patient transfer process’,” says district Chief Executive Officer Christian Wallis. “Local governments, ambulance services, hospital staff, and first and foremost patients all want to see the wait times in local health care facilities decrease. In 2022 we gathered East County stakeholders including the fire chiefs, the Sharp Grossmont Hospital’s Emergency Department leadership, elected officials, and the county’s Local EMS Agency to collaborate on finding solutions.”
The group continues to meet monthly, and has grown to include a wide range of community stakeholders working on solutions to reduce offload delays from ambulance to the emergency department, and educate the broader community about how best to access the right type of care during a medical emergency. 
On April 16th, the Grossmont Healthcare District will host a free community forum where residents will hear directly from providers in the local EMS system: 9-1-1 dispatch, emergency responders, and the hospital’s emergency department.
According to the California Health Care Foundation, the average length of a patient’s stay in emergency departments statewide is about three hours, and 85% of visits do not result in a hospital admission. “Improving the health literacy of East County’s residents is one of our primary objectives as a healthcare district, and knowing when and how to access urgent or emergency medical services is a task that many of us struggle with,” says district Chief Community Health Officer Amy Abrams, “We hope to reach residents throughout the region, regardless of where they receive their care, and help them better understand the local supports in their area.”
The event will take place from 10 to 11:30 AM on Tuesday April 16th at the district’s conference center at 9001 Wakarusa Street in La Mesa. Information, free safety supplies, and refreshments will be provided to all attendees. Participation via Zoom as well as live online translation of the program into Arabic and Spanish will be available. More details are available at the Grossmont Healthcare District’s website at https://www.grossmonthealthcare.org/community/ghd-events/ Register at https://bit.ly/43aoD2b or call (619) 825-5050.