New Wellington EMS program to provide more medical assistance to rural areas

WELLINGTON, Texas (KFDA) - Wellington EMS is offering a new Rural Community Health Program designed for those in rural areas to receive medical assistance.

The health program was launched in May and is designed for those who do not need traditional home care but still need weekly medical visits.

“It’s basically a spoof of the city’s paramedical program. It’s basically, the Texas Department of Agriculture came to us to pilot the program and get it started in rural communities,” said Farris Nation, administrator at Wellington EMS.

The program offers a variety of different medical treatments, from checking vital signs to educating those on medical conditions and prescription drugs.

“Our main goal is to kind of integrate our little health care services in our community because we are so rural so we all work on the same team,” said Samantha Blacksher, assistant director at Wellington EMS.

The goal of the program is to lessen travel to Amarillo for high medical care for the area.

“Because we are in a rural place, you know, higher level of care that’s usually Amarillo. That’s 110 miles from us, and we want to make sure they are being taken care of right here before they have to go that far for their care,” Blacksher said.

The goal of the program is to not only provide healthcare to the rural areas, but to also help educate residents to avoid higher level medical treatment.

“It’s in home care for people who have recently been hospitalized and just need some education, maybe some medication management. To get them going on their own. We want to make sure that we are keeping people out of the hospitals, and that those hospitalizations are not as frequent and those 911 calls are not as frequent,” Blacksher said.

The program is free for those interested. For more details on applying for the program, contact Wellington EMS at (806) 204-1886.

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