MEDICAL CENTER
won’t renew REACH agreement
EL CENTRO — After more than nine and a half years of working together, earlier this month El Centro Regional Medical Center communicated to REACH Air Medical Services that it would not seek to renew its current agreement.
The ongoing three-year agreement between ECRMC and REACH is set to expire on Jan. 27, 2018.
In a letter sent earlier this month, ECRMC executive director Adolphe Edward addressed director of Business Development for REACH Air Medical Services Donald Wharton to notify REACH of their decision.
Wharton said he was taken aback by the notification of ECRMC.
“The company and I were surprised and disheartened, if there was an issue, I expected at least an opportunity to have a discussion first to address it,” he said.
The Imperial Valley Press tried to contact ECRMC officials late Monday afternoon and didn’t receive a response before press time.
In the letter, ECRMC states “ECRMC looks forward to continuing to work with REACH, but declines (to) have an exclusive relationship with any provider of air transport services. As of Jan. 28, 2018, ECRMC may start to work with other partners in this space in addition to REACH.”
Concerned about the decision, REACH officials said they plan to attend today’s ECRMC Board of Trustees meeting and speak during the public comment portion of the meeting to understand the reasoning behind the decision.
One of the concerns Wharton and REACH have is that since ECRMC became affiliated with UC San Diego Health, some members may have been pushing the hospital not to renew the contract and instead bring in the only other provider in the region, Mercy Air, because they may have a long-standing relationship with Mercy Air.
For Wharton, the main concern is how the decision can affect the residents of the Imperial Valley. He said more than 30,000 residents are REACH members who can be adversely impacted by not continuing the partnership. He added, most of the employees at the Imperial Irrigation District, ECRMC, several school districts and city employees around the region are affiliated with REACH.
“It took 10 years to develop these relationships, why not continue with this partnership,” Wharton said. “The goal [for today’s meeting] is to demonstrate how valued our service is in the Valley.”
The ECMRC Board of Trustees will take place at the hospital today at 5:30 p.m.
“It is our hope that we can come back to the table and iron out the concerns and continue this great partnership for the benefit of people in the Valley,” Wharton said.