ROME, N.Y. — The Midstate Regional Emergency Medical Services Council recognized Rome Health at its May 20 annual awards banquet, which celebrates the people and organizations that provide the system of care that supports the community through emergencies. Rome’s emergency department (ED)received the Commissioner of Health’s Award of Excellence for remaining open and accessible even […]
ROME, N.Y. — The Midstate Regional Emergency Medical Services Council recognized Rome Health at its May 20 annual awards banquet, which celebrates the people and organizations that provide the system of care that supports the community through emergencies.
Rome’s emergency department (ED)received the Commissioner of Health’s Award of Excellence for remaining open and accessible even as the patient volume surged with each COVID wave.
In his nomination, Paul Taylor, AmCare Ambulance Service, Inc. president and CEO, praised the Rome Health emergency department, under the leadership of Medical Director Andrew Bushnell and Director Kelly West, for never turning away emergency medical services (EMS) units and working quickly to get those units back into service to meet the community’s needs.
“During the pandemic, all facilities were receiving a significant increase in their case loads,” he said in a news release. “Rome Health was no exception. While all Mid-State regional facilities went on ‘diversion’ at some point when their EDs were inundated, Rome Health did not, not once. The comment coming directly from administration was, ‘We are not closing, the community depends on us too much. We are the safety net, and we will not go on diversion.’”
“The emergency department staff went out of their way to clear room for incoming EMS units, knowing that they were the only ambulances available for Rome and the surrounding communities,” Taylor continued. “It was truly a rare occurrence that any patient had to wait on an ambulance stretcher more than 10-15 minutes.”
In 2021, more than 25,500 people received care in Rome Health’s emergency department, a patient volume that was up 9.2 percent over 2020 levels.
The Midstate Regional Emergency Medical Services Council also honored Chris Durfee, RN at Rome Health, as the Emergency Department RN of the Year for consistently holding himself and others to the highest standards.
A nonprofit health-care system based in Rome, Rome Health provides services including primary, specialty, and long-term care. It is an affiliate of St. Joseph’s Health and an affiliated clinical site of New York Medical College.