$187K going to SBY Fire Department, TidalHealth to continue growing integrated health program

SALISBURY, Md.- More than $187,775 in grant funds, will now ease worries in the effort to try to continuing growing a collaborative program in Salisbury.

“We were a little bit concerned because we were losing grant funding, especially to that piece to responding to 911 calls,” Katherine Rodgers, Director of Community Health Initiatives at TidalHealth, said.

This grant will be given to the Salisbury Fire Department and TidalHealth. They’re a part of the Salisbury Wicomico Integrated Firstcare Team, also referred to as SWIFT, which is a mobile integrated health program. “So, what that means is that we actually have a health care provider, a nurse practitioner, that go out and do home assessments with a paramedic,” Rodgers said.

The team assists people who frequently call 911 for non-emergency help.The goal is to connect people with healthcare and community-based services to improve their quality of life and reduce unnecessary strain on the EMS and Emergency Department system. “In a unit, going to the non-acuity calls; so like falls, things like that don’t really need a transport to the hospital and allows them to actually treat the patient in the house,” Salisbury EMS Assistant Chief Chris Truitt said.

Now with new grant funds, it will support the program in more ways than one. “This extra money will allow us to keep that MDCM program running at least three days a week, hopefully 5 days week depending on staffing and coverage,” Truitt said.

Even helping them size up in numbers by adding part time nurses and a full-time paramedic. “Historically, the program has only operated within the Salisbury City limits, but having this additional support, basically a second team, is going to continue to allow us to expand throughout Wicomico County,” Rodgers said.

“That extra support is huge because there are times that we’ll look for resources and everybody has a ton of stuff on their plates, so we might have to wait a day or two to get up with one of the social workers or nurse practitioner or something like that,” Truitt said.

We’re told while this program has really made a difference in the health care aspect of things the team also has been able to build relationships with residents  and trust.

The funding is from the Rural Maryland Council’s Rural Maryland Prosperity Investment Fund.

We’re told the program has reduced EMS calls and ED visits. In fact, last year participants had a 64% reduction in 9-1-1 calls and 68% reduction in ED visits.