TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Santa Cruz Valley Hospital in Green Valley has closed its doors and now first responders in the area will have to transport patients to hospitals further out.
The closure could mean longer patient transport times and increased in use of an emergency helicopter.
"So if we're transporting patients to Northwest-Sahuarita, it's probably going to increase about 20 to 30 minutes overall in our turnaround time," Tubac Fire Deputy Chief Benjamin Guerrero said. "It's not a huge increase, but it is an increase."
Santa Cruz Valley Regional Hospital closed on Thursday, June 30.
"Our paramedics are having to spend more time with their patients," Guerrero said. "The other challenge could be our turnaround times. We had about a 90 minute turnaround time before this."
On average he says Tubac Fire transported about 30 to 35 patients a month to Santa Cruz Valley hospital.
Now those patients will most likely be sent to Northwest Medical Center in Sahuarita, which is around 10 miles further from Santa Cruz Valley hospital.
In addition to longer transport times, it could also impact taxpayers.
"We had a close hospital that we could potentially take our patients to," Guerrero said. "That would potentially alleviate the use of a helicopter, now we could potentially increase the use of a helicopter to get our patients to the next most appropriate facilities."
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Denelle Veselik is an anchor and investigative reporter for KGUN 9. It's been her dream to tell your stories for the past decade. She is extremely curious and wants to continue to use her storytelling for the greater good. Share your story ideas and important issues with Denelle by emailing denelle.veselik@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram and X/Twitter.
