Emergency Medical Services to be hit hard by closing of Vidant Pungo | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    Most of our readers are aware that Vidant is closing Pungo Hospital. As you hear in the link above, Vidant makes it sound like they will be providing pretty much the same kind of emergency services as Pungo now provides. That's not true.

    At the October County Commissioners meeting the Emergency Services Director John Pack briefed the Commissioners on the impact the closing of Pungo will have on the EMS service in the County. There were two issues focused upon: Cost and quality of emergency services. The quality issue is related the distance/time it takes to transport a patient from Hyde County and eastern Beaufort County to Vidant Beaufort in Washington as opposed to taking them to Pungo in Belhaven.

    The picture the Commissioner heard is not a pretty one. It's going to cost more than $300,000 more for EMS and the travel times will be considerably longer. That is not only a threat to a sick patient who may need quick attention, but it also leaves a large geographical service area un-served while that longer trip is negotiated.

    The Commissioners did not take any action, but seemed to agree that once it is determined whether Vidant finds out what the status of the new facility they propose to build will be that the county will need to re-assess the entire EMS system in the county.

    You can hear Mr. Pack's presentation and the discussion in the video below: