Northern Light Mayo Hospital Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is one of the hospital’s largest departments with approximately 60 employees. Mayo Hospital EMS operates out of three bases located in Dover-Foxcroft, Dexter, and Corinth, responding to calls in Piscataquis, Penobscot, and Somerset Counties with a primary service area of approximately 750 miles.
Northern Light Mayo Hospital’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Department is piloting an innovative approach to patient-centered care in a limited paramedicine trial program they have named Community Mobile Health Systems (CMHS).
In the CMHS model, EMS responders are referred by a primary care provider to go directly to a patient’s home to assess and provide services. Since January of 2014 under the direction of primary care providers at Northern Light Primary Care, Dover-Foxcroft and with active communication and coordination between existing public health and home health agencies, Mayo Hospital EMS providers are taking the initiative to cover unmet health care needs, reduce unnecessary visits to the Emergency Department and keep patients from falling in the gaps of current care coverage.
In 2013 under the Department of Public Safety, Maine Emergency Medical Services launched a statewide Community Paramedicine Pilot Project. While there have been some very successful EMS community paramedicine programs initiated around the country over the past several years, the state of Maine is the first in the nation to start a statewide project. Mayo Hospital is one of 12 sites in this pilot program. The pilot sites meet together monthly to share experiences and review best practices.