MetroHealth, Fisher-Titus announce new critical care partnerships

NORWALK — Fisher-Titus Medical Center expanded its partnership with The MetroHealth System in Cleveland to provide trauma and critical care services in the region.MetroHealth took over in October as a partner in co-managing the trauma program at Fisher-Titus. Fisher-Titus is a Level Three trauma center, providing immediate care to patients with traumatic injuries and transporting them higher level trauma hospitals when needed.The partnership has now expanded with MetroHealth taking a larger role in the related service of providing critical care transportation services.MetroHealth became the medical director of North Central EMS, a 911 and emergency medical transportation service that Fisher-Titus owns. MetroHealth oversees protocols for the ambulance staff as well as continuing education.North Central EMS serves a considerable area of north-central Ohio, including Sandusky, Milan, Monroeville, Norwalk and Bellevue.In addition, MetroHealth started to provide critical care ground transportation for the area, transporting patients for hospitals in Huron County and the region.It makes sense for one provider to help supervise critical care at Fisher-Titus and also the work done by crews who transport patients who may be in critical condition, said Dr. Brent Burkey, president of Fisher-Titus."Ensuring patients receive the highest quality care before arriving at a hospital means better outcomes and faster recovery for patients. Serving the needs of our patients, right here where they live, is very important to us," Burkey said."In October, we entered into a collaboration with the MetroHealth system, a top provider for trauma and burn care in Ohio, to bring skilled trauma care to our hospital. It's only natural to expand our trauma plans to include key partnerships within our transport service to further evolve our critical care offering into the pre-hospital environment," Burkey said. One other change in medical transportation occurred recently in the Fisher-Titus service area.A Utah-based medical helicopter company, Guardian Flight, withdrew the helicopter that had been stationed in Milan for about a year.Other medical helicopter providers that transport patients, including Metro Life Flight, will provide transportation by medical helicopter for patients at Fisher-Titus who need it.A Metro Life Flight ground unit. Working with Fisher-Titus Medical Center, MetroHealth of Cleveland expanded its critical care in the region.