Hospital Will Stop Operating as Base Station for Paramedics

Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood, citing increased costs and demands on doctors and nurses, announced Tuesday it will no longer operate as a county paramedic base station, effective Oct. 9.

Freeman will continue to accept and treat paramedic patients, however.

The hospital’s action means that other area hospitals that operate base stations will have to absorb the 1,300 or so monthly paramedic radio calls that Freeman’s medical staff handles.

Hospitals that serve as base stations supervise the treatment and transport of patients through radio contact with paramedics.

Virginia Price Hastings, who oversees paramedic operations for the county’s Department of Health Services, said that patient care would not be affected by Freeman’s decision. The only likely outcome will be a greater administrative workload for nearby hospitals that continue to operate base stations.

“If we can spread it out evenly, I don’t think it will be much of a problem,” Hastings said.

Nine paramedic ambulances from Inglewood and the fire departments from the city and county of Los Angeles are assigned to Freeman’s base station, she said. Including Freeman, there are 33 base stations countywide. In the South Bay, there are at least four other hospitals that serve as base stations. Freeman has been trying to negotiate with county health officials over a number of issues, including several related to indigent care and how much the hospital should be compensated for it. The hospital asserts it is losing millions of dollars annually caring for a growing number of uninsured patients.

Freeman Vice President James Barber said the hospital could reverse itself and keep the base station open if agreement is reached on some of these issues.