FROM: [redacted] – Chief Operations Officer – Vital Care EMS RE: Customer Service Issue on 8/31/2015 - ID [redacted] On August 31, 2015, Vital Care EMS transported a patient to a doctor’s appointment by wheelchair transport. Vital Care did arrive late to pick up the patient from her...
pick up at [redacted] Health and Rehab. However, the patient made it to her scheduled appointment on time. Vital Care has a policy of picking up a patient an hour before a scheduled appointment. This allows extra time in case of unexpected circumstances such as, running late due to previous appointments running long, traffic, accidents, etc. On August 31, 2015, Vital Care was running a little bit behind due to an employee calling out that drove another wheelchair van, and we had another employee that had to leave due to a child being sick. Usually, when we drop off a patient at an appointment, if the facility does not require us to stay at the facility, our employees will leave the facility and stage somewhere near the facility. This ensures we are not taking up space in the parking lots at facilities with our ambulances and wheelchair vans so other patients may come and go easily. Our employee did leave the facility and went to stage nearby. However, another patient at another call came in to transport a patient to a facility. The driver that was staged was the closest available van and was dispatched for that call. Unfortunately, when the patient became ready, our vans were on calls with other patients. The patient had to wait until the next available van to clear to pick them up. This led to an extended wait, which Vital Care tries to avoid at all costs. When the driver arrived, he did act unprofessional by jokingly talking about adult beverages. This was addressed with the driver and was placed on an unpaid suspension. We also sent a memo out to other employees reiterating proper professional behavior while on duty. Our supervisors also discussed professional behavior standards with employees as they came off shift. Vital Care also had a discussion with our dispatch office regarding why this patient waited so long. Vital Care also addressed that there should have been better communication regarding how long it would be before a van could pick up the patient. The patient may have had to wait, unfortunately, but they should have been told up front about the wait period. Vital Care EMS takes pride in serving our community. Vital Care strives to be the best transport service for those who depend on our services. We are very sorry the patient had to wait and had an unpleasant experience.
FROM: [redacted] – Chief Operations Officer – Vital Care EMS RE: Customer Service Issue on 8/31/2015 - ID [redacted] On August 31, 2015, Vital Care EMS transported a patient to a doctor’s appointment by wheelchair transport. Vital Care did arrive late to pick up the patient from her...
pick up at [redacted] Health and Rehab. However, the patient made it to her scheduled appointment on time. Vital Care has a policy of picking up a patient an hour before a scheduled appointment. This allows extra time in case of unexpected circumstances such as, running late due to previous appointments running long, traffic, accidents, etc. On August 31, 2015, Vital Care was running a little bit behind due to an employee calling out that drove another wheelchair van, and we had another employee that had to leave due to a child being sick. Usually, when we drop off a patient at an appointment, if the facility does not require us to stay at the facility, our employees will leave the facility and stage somewhere near the facility. This ensures we are not taking up space in the parking lots at facilities with our ambulances and wheelchair vans so other patients may come and go easily. Our employee did leave the facility and went to stage nearby. However, another patient at another call came in to transport a patient to a facility. The driver that was staged was the closest available van and was dispatched for that call. Unfortunately, when the patient became ready, our vans were on calls with other patients. The patient had to wait until the next available van to clear to pick them up. This led to an extended wait, which Vital Care tries to avoid at all costs. When the driver arrived, he did act unprofessional by jokingly talking about adult beverages. This was addressed with the driver and was placed on an unpaid suspension. We also sent a memo out to other employees reiterating proper professional behavior while on duty. Our supervisors also discussed professional behavior standards with employees as they came off shift. Vital Care also had a discussion with our dispatch office regarding why this patient waited so long. Vital Care also addressed that there should have been better communication regarding how long it would be before a van could pick up the patient. The patient may have had to wait, unfortunately, but they should have been told up front about the wait period. Vital Care EMS takes pride in serving our community. Vital Care strives to be the best transport service for those who depend on our services. We are very sorry the patient had to wait and had an unpleasant experience.