Linda Shedd, one of Grace Cottage’s Emergency Medical Technicians (Intermediate) at Grace Cottage, assists in the ambulance.

"Grace Cottage continues to be the only hospital in the state of Vermont that operates an ambulance service for 911 calls" according to Al LaRochelle, Grace Cottage CEO. "The other hospitals rely on private ambulance services. If we were to do that, the distances from the nearest other ambulance services would increase 911 call response time by at least a half hour." Lefevre, a for-profit ambulance service, is located in Bellows Falls, while Rescue, Inc., a not-for-profit organization, is based in Brattleboro.

However, Grace Cottage must replace one of the three ambulances. The hospital’s oldest ambulance, now entering its 17th year, is begging to be retired—it’s spending far more time in the repair shop than on the road. With all of the emergency calls and transports between hospitals that the ambulance crew (paid employees Mark Gagne, Linda Shedd Steve Holton and Jeffery Wheeler, in addition to many volunteers) must complete, three ambulances are a necessity. Grace Cottage’s 2001 ambulance (purchased with a Holt Fund grant) and 1993 ambulance are holding up well, but aren’t sufficient.

In addition to transporting patients from other hospitals to Grace Cottage or from Grace Cottage elsewhere, the ambulances are used to respond to automobile and other accidents, incidences of stroke, choking, chest pains, and heart attacks.

The importance of Grace Cottage and its ambulances to this rural community was recently underscored by a study released by Cornell University and published in Health Care Management Science. Heart attack victims who make it to the hospital quickly are four to five times more likely to survive, compared with those who don’t make it to a hospital promptly. The research also finds that, for each 5-minute increase in distance from a hospital, a person’s probability of getting to the hospital in time falls by 1.25 percent. This estimation model, developed at Cornell was based on out-of-hospital heart attack deaths using a database of 22,000 myocardial infarction patients from 228 hospitals.

If you are in a position to help, donations, marked "Restricted for Ambulance Purchase", may be sent to to Grace Cottage Foundation, PO Box 1, Townshend, VT 05353; or visit www.gracecottage.org or call (802) 365-9109 to make a donation by credit card. A plaque with the names of all of those who have contributed to the purchase of the ambulance will be mounted inside the new vehicle, which will cost $88,000. Donations of any amount are appreciated, and will help Grace Cottage meet the goal of purchasing a new ambulance as soon as possible, to improve emergency care within the community.

Grace Cottage Foundation provides an opportunity for generous and caring individuals to enable Vermont’s smallest hospital, Grace Cottage, to provide medical care for the people living in and visiting the hills and valleys of southern Vermont.

Ambulance Appeal