- Kane County Hospital ambulances can again respond to emergencies in Arizona.
- Arizona halted service on July 2, prompting Fredonia's emergency declaration, citing safety concerns.
- Arizona's health department claimed other providers are available; Kane County is seeking certification to operate in Arizona permanently.
KANAB — Kane County Hospital ambulances have more leeway to respond to emergencies in neighboring Arizona following an abrupt halt to service late last week that prompted alarm among some.
In a social media post Tuesday, Kane County officials said emergency responders from the county have received permission from Arizona authorities to service the adjacent state "in emergency situations and when Arizona resources are not available." Nevertheless, an emergency declaration issued on Friday due to the turn of events by officials in Fredonia, Arizona, across the state line from Kanab, remains in effect.
Fredonia Mayor Don Johnson will lift the declaration "once he feels that the residents of Fredonia are no longer in danger," Fredonia Town Clerk Tracy Stumpf said Monday in an email to leaders in the border area, supplied to KSL.com.
Emergency service responders from the Kane County Hospital in Kanab have served adjacent areas of northern Arizona — including Fredonia, other Arizona locales and even the North Rim of the Grand Canyon — for some 40 years. However, after hospital officials ran into roadblocks in securing the required permission from Arizona to serve the adjacent state, they announced a halt to service last Wednesday, worried they could face penalties from Arizona officials.
Fredonia leaders, in response, approved the emergency declaration on Friday, stating that leaders from the locale would seek emergency medical assistance "from any and all resources" if and when needed, even from Kane County Hospital. The message blasted the Arizona Department of Health Services in its dealings with Kane County Hospital emergency responders on the permitting question, saying the state agency has "imperiled the lives, health and safety" of Fredonia residents.
The tense situation seems to be thawing, though. The Arizona Department of Health Services issued a statement last week, as the concerns reached a crescendo, stating that other ambulance providers were available in northern Arizona to serve the areas typically served by Kane County responders.
Kane County Commissioner Celeste Meyers said Tuesday that the situation is "on its way to being solved."
The issue intensified early last week after the Arizona health department announced Kane County emergency responders' operations in Arizona violated state law because they didn't have a "certificate of necessity," according to the Fredonia emergency declaration. Hospital officials say they've been seeking certification, but have repeatedly encountered roadblocks in their dealings with Arizona authorities, though Meyers said the efforts will continue.
The Kane County Hospital is publicly owned, part of an independent special district, and is a key health care provider in the area along the Utah-Arizona state line.
