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Kanab hospital officials report rising EMS demand and new building timeline
Summary
Hospital CEO Kurt Loveless and EMS Director Ben Armstrong told the Kane County Commission on April 8 that call volume and interfacility transfers have grown sharply since 2021, the county is expanding EMS staffing and medical oversight, and construction of a new hospital building will begin once permits and bids are in place.
Kurt Loveless, CEO of the local hospital, and Ben Armstrong, the hospital's EMS director, updated the Kane County Commission on April 8 on ambulance call volumes, staffing and the status of a new hospital building.
Loveless said crews are preparing the hospital site and that construction will begin after building permits are issued and the county awards the construction bid. "As soon as we get our building permits and get the bid out for the building, then it starts a 20 month clock," he said, describing soil work under way and a contractor schedule that includes a 20‑month completion window before penalty periods begin.
Armstrong summarized operational changes and recent growth in demand. "Since 2021, we've seen a 20% year over year increase in demand for our services," he told the commission. He said call volume rose sharply after the pandemic and that 2023 was the first year the hospital's EMS system exceeded 1,000 total calls.
Armstrong provided additional operational details: historically calls were in the 400–500 per year range, last year the system topped 1,000; roughly 70% of calls are 911 responses and about 26.5% are interfacility transfers; falls, traffic accidents and breathing problems are frequent chief complaints; and more than half of patients during the last two years did not live in the county because of tourism.
On staffing, Armstrong said the county-wide EMS provider pool now totals about 45 people (EMTs through paramedics) and that the agency recently grew from three paramedics to eight paramedics employed in a mix of full‑time and paid‑volunteer roles. The hospital recently added a medical direction service comprised of emergency medicine and EMS specialty physicians to support protocol development and provider oversight.
Commissioners asked how EMS partners are funded and how agreements are structured. Loveless and Armstrong said the hospital has memoranda of understanding with Kanab City, Cedar Mountain and BigWater; the city contract is a flat fee with cost‑of‑living escalators, BigWater moved to a hybrid flat‑fee/per‑run model this year, and Cedar Mountain receives a monthly stipend tied to dual coverage in certain hours. Loveless said a portion of short‑term rental/tourism taxes (TRT) — roughly in the range of $400,000–$450,000 annually, as discussed in the meeting — helps support county‑wide EMS coordination and the EMS director position.
Both presenters said EMS billing and collections do not fully cover operational costs and that hospital affiliation provides financial and administrative support that makes expanded services possible.
The commission thanked hospital staff and moved to the next agenda item.
