Collins, King, Golden Secure $1.6 Million to Help Stephens Memorial’s Paramedic Service Renovate Facilities

Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) and Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) announced today that they have secured $1,642,000 in dedicated funding as part of the 2023 government funding package to help ensure that Stephens Memorial Hospital’s paramedic service can address outstanding facility maintenance repairs and updates.  

The ambulance facility in Oxford County currently is outdated, inflexible and inefficient, and in need of maintenance to better serve the community.  The funding will be used to invest in HVAC updates, the addition of private sleeping quarters and bathrooms, new work areas and educational spaces, and adequate garage space for maintaining and storing ambulances to bring the facility up to code.

The omnibus funding package passed the Senate by a vote of 68-29 and the House by a vote of 225-201-1. It now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

“Our rural hospitals and medical centers provide a critical service to the residents of Maine,” said Senators Collins and King and Congressman Golden. “This new funding will ensure that the doctors and nurses have the tools they need to treat patients in a safe and adequate setting. It will also provide the necessary facilities for emergency service providers to maintain vehicles that are necessary for transporting critically-ill patients. We’re proud to have helped secure this funding and look forward to seeing its positive impacts for years to come.”

As a MaineHealth local health system, Stephens Memorial Hospital is a 25-bed rural critical access hospital that provides inpatient, hospital outpatient, surgical, emergency care, and paramedic-level ambulance service to its surrounding communities. Stephens Memorial Hospital’s Paramedic Alliance for Community Emergencies (PACE) service provides EMS coverage to 18 local communities in the Oxford Hills region, seasonal coverage of Sunday River Ski Resort, and back-up coverage for 4 other communities that have services of their own. Each year, PACE crews respond to over 4,300 community emergencies and provide critical transport services between health care facilities throughout the region.