With Spring Valley hospital closure, which ER are you going to? You’ll pick in some cases

If you live in the Illinois Valley and need an ambulance, your local EMS provider is likely to ask which hospital you’d like to be taken to.

Most EMS directors said with St. Margaret’s Health-Spring Valley closing on Friday, they’ll at least listen to patient wishes and try to accommodate them.

“For emergency calls, we will transport patients where they wish to go, within the local area, when their condition is stable enough to do so,” said Bob Hoscheid, director of 10/33 Ambulance in Spring Valley, which serves seven municipalities and two townships. “In serious/critical cases, the patient needs to be transported to the nearest hospital to receive the care needed in the shortest amount of time.”

“They’ll pretty much have their choice of which hospital they want to go to. We’re going to do everything we can to keep them healthy as we get them to the hospital.”

—  Cathie Edens, director of Oglesby Ambulance Service

An issue that may arise with ambulances spending more time in transit: Longer transit times mean more time on the road and patients should anticipate delays in less-urgent calls.

Putnam County EMS said it will accommodate patients the best it can in a letter mailed to county residents.

“We would like to inform everyone that we will try and honor anyone’s wishes on going to any facility of their choosing,” wrote Andy Jackson, Putnam County EMS chief.

But in the next breath, Jackson emphasized first responders might not be able to accommodate personal preferences in life-or-death situations.

“Of course, if the situation is extremely emergent and we feel it is in the patient’s best interest to go to a closer facility than requested, we will make the decision to do so.”

La Salle Fire Chief Jerry Janick said patient preference would be considered in less urgent situations. That said, La Salle EMS has concluded OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Ottawa is closer than Mendota or Princeton and therefore is the preferred option, though circumstances could dictate a change of direction.

“You have to consider how busy the receiving hospital is,” he said. “Sometimes they have to wait for a bed to open. That’s our reality.”

Cathie Edens, director of Oglesby Ambulance Service, said she and her first responders will ask patients if they wish to be taken to Ottawa or Mendota, the most proximate choices once Spring Valley is closed.

“They’ll pretty much have their choice of which hospital they want to go to,” Edens said. “We’re going to do everything we can to keep them healthy as we get them to the hospital.”

Edens said neither option is ideal. While a few patients already have been asked to be taken to Ottawa, even with Spring Valley still in operation, she clocked the average round-trip transit at 90 minutes – about double what it takes to get an Oglesby patient to Spring Valley. There have been no trial runs (so to speak) to Mendota.

Utica Fire Chief Ben Brown said a meeting is scheduled Tuesday to discuss patient care in light of the looming Spring Valley closure. While Utica determined Ottawa is its next-closest hospital after the closing of the Peru hospital, Utica EMS needs to discuss contingencies such as when Ottawa is short of beds.

Edens reminded Oglesby residents that EMS companies would work together to ensure emergency transit is available even when a particular company is out on a call. Jackson agreed but also begged for patience, noting with longer transit times patients should anticipate delays in less-urgent calls.