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Covington, Kentucky is collaborating with St. Elizabeth Medical Center to initiate a 12-month pilot paramedicine program. This initiative aims to reduce unnecessary emergency department visits and hospital stays for adults with chronic diseases.
The program will introduce two part-time paramedicine associates to Covington Fire/EMS specifically for this partnership, ensuring no impact on daily staffing or essential resources of the Covington Fire Department. Assistant Chief of EMS Gary Rucker expressed optimism about the collaboration: “Having a partnership with St. Elizabeth really opens the doors to resources that typically a fire department doesn’t have,” he said. “St. Elizabeth has a lot of partnerships in the community that will expand what we have access to. This will be very beneficial to our residents here in Covington.”
The paramedicine team will include nurses from St. Elizabeth physicians and two part-time paramedics from Covington. Patients will be identified by the care management team and inpatient clinical outcomes team at St. Elizabeth Physicians Group, focusing initially on chronic conditions like COPD, diabetes, heart failure, and kidney disease.
“This is really filling the gap between Emergency Services and the emergency room,” Rucker noted. He explained that patients often return to hospitals due to confusion post-discharge, which this program seeks to address by providing education and resource access.
Funded by nearly $175,000 from the Copic Medical Foundation, this non-profit grant covers hiring costs for the new paramedicine associates. The success of the program will be evaluated through metrics such as reduced emergency visits, improved follow-up rates with primary care providers, and referrals to community partners.
While similar programs exist in other communities like Lexington, this marks Northern Kentucky's first such initiative according to Rucker. Florence is also participating alongside Covington in this endeavor.
