WY Regional EMS Partnership May Succeed Where Other Ambulance Services Businesses Have Had Difficulty

In less than 2 months, Sheridan and Campbell Counties will have a new ambulance service and will sometimes help each other out.

Earlier this month, the Sheridan Memorial Hospital and Campbell County Health announced a partnership called Wyoming Regional EMS, to provide ambulance services within the 2 counties.

Most of the time ambulance crews will stay within the county they are in, but will help out elsewhere in certain situations such as staff shortages or if one county is overwhelmed with medical emergencies.

Sheridan Memorial Hospital President Mike McCafferty says Governor Mark Gordon has been involved in getting more in-state hospital involvement with EMS transportation services and says it’s difficult for an independent ambulance business to thrive in rural populations, like with what Wyoming has.

“Governor Gordon has really been pushing for regionalization of  EMS services across the state. It’s very challenging for small ambulance services to run and there’s just not the economy as a scale that you have with larger populations.”

McCafferty says the Sheridan Memorial Hospital is working on trying to determine where to store the ambulances.

Campbell County Health has operated its own independent EMS service since 1975.