The Villages Public Safety Department handled 189 calls in the first 72 hours after taking over the emergency transport service Oct. 1 in The Villages section of Sumter County.
Chief Edmund Cain provided a report on the status of the new ambulance service Wednesday afternoon before the Village Center Community Development District Board of Supervisors.
Of those first 189 calls:
- 73 resulted in patient transport to UF Health-The Villages Hospital
- 11 resulted in patient transport to UF Health-The Villages Brownwood Freestanding ER
- 36 resulted in patient transport to UF Health-Leesburg Hospital
- 5 resulted in patient transport to Ocala Health Trailwinds Freestanding ER
- 4 resulted in patient transport to Ocala Regional Medical Center
- 1 resulted in patient transport to Ocala Health Summerfield Freestanding ER
- 59 resulted in no patient transport
Residents of The Villages had been alarmed by dangerously long wait times under the county’s contracted ambulance service, American Medical Response. Villagers sent a powerful message that they preferred their ambulance service be operated by The Villages Public Safety Department.
