Oct. 4, 2022 8:30a
(WGTD)---In a reversal of roles, Kenosha Fire Department rescue squads are now responding to Froedtert’s downtown Kenosha hospital. Instead of dropping them off at the E-R, paramedics are transporting patients with conditions that are deemed too serious to be treated at the hospital’s new urgent care facility.
In a consolidation and cost-savings move, the hospital’s emergency room officially closed as of midnight Friday, leaving the city without an E-R, replaced with a 24/7 urgent care. Patients in need of an E-R are now being taken to either Froedtert Pleasant Prairie on Highway 50 or the Aurora hospital located a little further west.
As of Monday mid-morning, eight transfers were made of patients that initially showed up at the downtown hospital then had to be transferred, according to Kenosha Fire Department E-M-S Division Chief Nick Ashman.
While it’s too early to gauge the impact of the E-R closure, and whether any operational changes need to be made by the fire department, Ashman said so far the total number of patient transfers has been a bit less than expected. "The reality is the first thing we need to do is measure the impact and think about what sort of threshold would exist for us to really consider making a change," he said. "But based on the data so far that doesn't really play out so it seems that we're going to be fine."
Although various functions offered at Kenosha Hospital have been moved west in recent years, an announcement of a new service came just last week. A company that specializes in offering in-patient rehab will be leasing the top three floors of the Palmer Tower.
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