Decatur Ambulance Service will close in September

UPDATE 6/27/22 9:30PM:

Decatur city leader told WAND News a meeting will be held Tuesday to continue discussions on a new ambulance service for Decatur.

Decatur City Manager Scot Wrighton said in statement:

“The City of Decatur learned from HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital more than a week ago that DAS would be dissolving. Since then, the City has been working on a solution with both hospitals and other key medical providers,” Wrighton said. “While the City’s role is to issue licenses for ambulance services, we are also leading the discussion to ensure a smooth transition of services for our community. Everyone is committed to developing plans that result in no service interruption.”

WAND News also reached out to Decatur Memorial Hospital, as the Decatur Ambulance Service provides emergency transports for both St. Mary's and DMH. A spokesman released the following statement:

"Decatur Memorial Hospital will work with the city of Decatur to offer our perspective on the community’s health care needs, as the city works to resolve this issue. The care of our patients is always our top priority."

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DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - HSHS St. Mary's Decatur leadership announced it will dissolve Decatur Ambulance Service.

In a statement sent to WAND News on Monday, HSHS said:

"After detailed research and discernment, HSHS St. Mary’s Decatur leadership has decided to dissolve the pre-hospital service line of Decatur Ambulance Service (DAS) in the coming months. We are working in collaboration with city officials to secure another vendor to service the community before the closure of September 1, 2022. Our objective is for the public to not see any disruption in service when the need for emergent care arises.

This decision was weighed heavily, as we have been proud and privileged to serve the residents of Decatur, Pana and surrounding communities. We are dedicated to ensuring that the community continues to have access to emergency care delivered at a high level.

The pre-hospital care environment is a specialized one. There are numerous external agencies whose sole business is in-the-field care and transport who can take over and continue to deliver this service at the expert level currently given. Factors that led us to this service closure include the current and very difficult landscape for filling open positions with quality candidates in this high-demand field and the ongoing cost of upgrading necessary equipment, vehicles and other supplies

The colleagues of DAS deliver high-quality care and the performance of their duties has not impacted this decision, and we truly thank them for their years of service. Colleagues will be considered to transition to open positions within St. Mary’s Hospital or other HSHS entities if they are qualified and want to remain with HSHS. In addition, there is high demand in the field of pre-hospital care, and their skill and expertise could be an asset to any future agency in our area.

Overall, we’ve laid a strong foundation of pre-hospital care in the community, and we will continue collaborative discussions to open opportunities for additional pre-hospital businesses to join our community. "

This is a developing story, details will be updated as they are provided.