Catholic Medical Center, AMR Ambulance Create New Partnership

Catholic Medical Center and AMR Ambulance have created a first-of-its-kind partnership to provide extra aid to rural hospitals.

CMC has expanded its “Transfer Center” to ensure that area hospitals have extra help in handling urgent and complicated medical cases. The 9-1-1 type system directly connects medical teams from area hospitals with experts at CMC, to quickly and efficiently transfer patients with complicated or unique health care needs to Manchester.

“Every moment counts when a call comes in regarding a serious case,” said Dr. David Goldberg, physician leader of the CMC Transfer Center. “When we talked to our partners in hospitals around the state, we found one of the biggest obstacles they face is transferring a patient with urgent needs in a timely fashion. This center helps us get patients the care they need in the fastest way possible.”

CMC and AMR dedicated two specially equipped ambulances for the transfer center. The vehicles are capable of transmitting radiology images to CMC physicians in real time to ensure there is no wait for critical information.

“We have roughly 100 high risk transfers every month,” said Dr. Joseph Pepe, CEO of Catholic Medical Center. “We are dedicating more resources to this highly successful system because it saves lives. We can quickly diagnose a complicated case and help arrange a transfer to our hospital without delaying care or draining limited resources.”

The CMC transfer center operates under a simple motto: “We have what you need.” A team of registered nurses staff the lines for hospitals to call, and they will immediately connect physicians with the appropriate CMC expert to handle the case. If the Manchester facility cannot adequately treat any particular patient, the call center will quickly find a hospital that can accept the patient. This system is designed so that only one call is needed.

The dedicated resources provided by AMR ambulance will also prevent a sudden shortage of medical help in the North Country or other rural areas of the state.

“On average, there is only one paramedic available for every 200 square mile area in northern parts of the state,” said Christopher Stawasz, general manager of AMR for New Hampshire and Maine. “Any call to transfer a patient puts undue strain on the limited resources of EMTs in these rural areas.”

Stawasz noted that roughly 50 percent of all calls to AMR are to transfer patients between hospitals.

The transfer center has already proven to boost efficiency, but there is also an emphasis on making sure the patient returns back to the original facility for follow-up care, physical therapy and future appointments.

“The primary link must be the hospital closest to where these patients and their families live,” said Lucille Mulla, vice president of Operations and Emergency Services for CMC. “This system works best if the patients can finish recovery back home where they need to be.”

The transfer center can handle a hospital call for any type of case, whether it is a CMC specialty or not. “Our goal is to provide a resource so when a crisis occurs and the resources are not available, that patient’s care is not compromised,” says Pepe.

About Catholic Medical Center

Catholic Medical Center (“CMC”) is one of New Hampshire’s largest medical centers, with a commitment to delivering the highest quality and most advanced healthcare to patients. CMC is the home of the New England Heart Institute, which has been rated by Truven Health Analytics™ as one of Top 50 Cardiovascular Hospitals in the Nation for 2014. CMC is also one of the first hospitals in New Hampshire to establish a joint venture with independent medical staff members when it became a partner in the freestanding Bedford Ambulatory Surgical Center. With primary care practices that care for the very young to the young at heart and our dedication to community outreach programs, CMC is helping to foster a healthier community, every day. CatholicMedicalCenter.org.

Photo caption: Christopher Stawasz, GM of AMR, and Dr Joseph Pepe, CEO of CMC.

Submitted text. Courtesy photo.