The discussion of overnight ambulance coverage was heard once again by the Dr. John Warner Hospital Board of Directors.

Last year the hospital took a cost saving measure of reducing overnight ambulance coverage to having one ambulance overnight. Prior to that announcement, CEO of the Dr. John Warner Hospital Earl Sheehy explains the hospital had outside services come in and analyze their situation. The feedback was overwhelming, there was no need for two ambulances overnight.

[audio:72712overnightambulance1.mp3][/audio]

The data used to support the decision of having one ambulance overnight is holding true to this point. Sheehy says having one ambulance overnight is not an all the time occurrence. He points to this past Monday when the hospital saw some equipment failure, as a precaution they put an extra crew on overnight, however, neither crew left the hospital.

[audio:72712overnightambulance2.mp3][/audio]

Sheehy says if you look at the numbers, DeWitt County has three ambulances, including Farmer City, covering the county with a population of just over 16-thousand. He says if you look at Chicago, where they have 55 ambulances covering several million, the numbers certainly favor DeWitt County.