Chicago Provident Hospital in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighbourhood will restart ambulance service Wednesday morning. It is more than eleven years after it stopped accepting ambulances.
Toni Preckwinkle, president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, announced the restoration of ambulances to Provident, which she described as a “treasured and historic” hospital.
First Hospital in the US Owned and Run by Black People
“By taking ambulance runs, Provident Hospital shows its clinical competence and commitment to people who live and work on Chicago’s South Side,” Preckwinkle said.
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Cook County Health CEO Israel Rocha said that $8 million in upgrades had been made to the safety-net hospital up to this date.
These upgrades will allow for the installation of a new MRI and the establishment of an inpatient dialysis service. These also allows the reopening of our critical care unit and the expansion of our medical surgical capacity.
MRI Cost About $2 Million
Bill Lowry, a County Commissioner, said that it is very important to get ambulance service back to the Bronzeville hospital.
“Because when a loved one is facing a catastrophic heart attack, they need care inside the community, not outside of it,” Lowry said.
Although the county discontinued ambulance service in 2011 to save money, the emergency department at Provident remained open. It treated 19,000 individuals who walked in or were driven there.
Ambulances Transport Thousands of Patients Annually
Rocha attributed the county’s reversal of the cost-cutting measure to greater insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act and federal pandemic money.
Rocha expressed optimism that, the safety-net hospital would be able to maintain itself financially this year.
