VIDEO: Trinity Health is partnering with the Minot Fire Department to implement a new Community Health Alliance Program. Trinity Health received a $20,000 grant from the Minot Area Community Foundation to help implement the new program. The program is being developed by Care Resource Connections, a nonprofit organization made up of a network of healthcare, public service, and business professionals. Its main focus is to bridge the gaps to care and services after a 911 call is placed with the help of a five-step process.
“People call 911 for different reasons and for different needs, and so one of the goals for this program is to really understand the real reason that they’re calling 911,” Amy Thomas, Director of Trinity Health First Response, said. These steps include scheduling a home 911 follow-up visit with a community member, connecting them with a care team, and a confirmation that you met with someone to ensure that everything was taken care of. With this new five-step process, officials are ultimately hoping that less 911 calls come in.
“What resources do we have in our community that we can connect them with after that point of that initial 911 call?” Thomas said. “How do we circle back to those people and connect them with resources that already exist in our community and make sure they their needs are being met so that they don’t feel like they need to call 911?” Based on the 911 call, if they feel the person has unmet needs, a referral will be made.
“Once we get a referral, we ask them if they are open and willing to accept help and they can sign off and say they are,” Stuart Hammer, Fire Inspector at the Minot Fire Department, said. “Once that 911 call is over and time has passed and they’re out of the hospital, I will call and go out and do home visits with them and do a full assessment of everything from where they live, to how they live, to any resources they might need, and just get as much information as I can to pass along to the Care Resources Connection.” Care Resource Connections have done multiple partnerships with different programs, but Minot will be the first one where the hospital is involved.
“The doctors are involved, so it’s going to be full circle from home to the hospital back to home, and we’ll be able to track and doctors will be able to see what’s going on with the patients,” Hammer said. “If they call 911 and it gets cancelled or they don’t transport, they’ll know they are calling and that they might need more resources, and so we’ll be able to track patients better and get them the resources that they need to stay independent, which is the ultimate goal.” Training for this program began this week at Trinity Health, and the Minot Fire Department is already working on making referrals.
