Ambulance authority steps up after hospital closure
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HAYWOOD COUNTY, Tenn. — A year after the Haywood Park Hospital announced it would shut its doors for good, the Ambulance Authority spoke Sunday on how they’ve adjusted since the only hospital in the county closed. Co-Assistant Director David Smith said since the hospital closed they’ve hired seven new employees to staff a third truck 24-7. He said the service budget has increased from $1.4 million to about $1.6 million. “The county saw fit quickly to go ahead and allow us to staff one more unit,” Smith said. Smith said call times have increased as well. When the hospital was open, it took about 45 minutes for an ambulance to leave the garage and return, and presently it can take 2 and a half hours. Smith attributes the time difference to the fact that drivers need to travel to Jackson or Memphis to get to an ER. Because of the distance difference, he said call volume also has increased. “We’re running about a thousand more calls as we were this time last year,” Smith said. He said they’ve taken more than four thousand calls, many of those calls because people who may have been able to provide transportation themselves to the county hospital now have to rely on the ambulance service. “I mean, if everybody used their hazards or something like that we could probably go out ourselves,” resident John Pirtle said. Smith said despite all the changes, the Ambulance Authority will adjust as needed to keep helping the citizens of Haywood County.
