Atrium Health Navicent will begin providing emergency medical services (EMS) for Wilkinson County on Jan. 1, 2025. Wilkinson County commissioners voted on Tuesday to approve a proposal from Atrium Health Navicent following a detailed and thorough selection process.

Atrium Health Navicent EMS will provide two 24-hour advanced life support ambulances and invest about $600,000 in new ambulances and equipment to care for Wilkinson County residents. In addition to the capital equipment, Atrium Health Navicent is committed to hiring qualified local residents, where possible, for the 16 needed positions as part of an ongoing economic investment in Wilkinson County.

While Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin in Milledgeville is the closest hospital to Wilkinson County, Atrium Health Navicent EMS will continue to transport patients to their hospital of choice.

“We’re proud to expand access to quality pre-hospital care for Wilkinson County residents as part of a regional strategy to invest in the local economy and improve health equity for rural communities,” said Atrium Health Georgia Market President Delvecchio Finley. “We thank our current, and future patients, and the Wilkinson County commissioners for trusting Atrium Health Navicent as their health care provider.”

Wilkinson County will be the 10th Georgia county served by Atrium Health EMS, which has operated as a hospital-based ambulance service for 124 years. Atrium Health Navicent EMS is the region’s licensed neonatal intensive care transport and a licensed medical first responder while also providing comprehensive nonemergency transport services throughout Georgia.

In addition to providing EMS services in Macon-Bibb County in central Georgia, Atrium Health Navicent EMS serves Baldwin, Jones and Twiggs counties, which border Wilkinson County, and Treutlen County. In its first year providing EMS services in Baldwin County, Atrium Health Navicent EMS purchased four new ambulances and equipment, and provided nearly 11,000 patient transports.

“Hospital-based EMS provides the best opportunity for a seamless continuum of care for patients with medical emergencies, resulting in improved patient outcomes and higher patient satisfaction,” said Bud Owens, Atrium Health’s area vice president of Mobile Medicine and EMS in Georgia and Alabama. “We’re grateful to Wilkinson County for their partnership as we improve health, elevate hope and advance healing throughout central and south Georgia.”

In addition to the new EMS services, Atrium Health Navicent will provide support and educational resources for Wilkinson County’s first responders and public safety agencies through Stop the Bleed training, CPR training and first responder training.