Health System Board Approves Plans for New Ambulance Station & Education Center

  • June 18, 2018

This architect’s rendering depicts the new 7,160-square foot ambulance station and education center which will at last give the ambulance service a permanent home and its own dedicated space. Brookings Health System plans to break ground for the building later this summer.
This architect’s rendering depicts the new 7,160-square foot ambulance station and education center which will at last give the ambulance service a permanent home and its own dedicated space. Brookings Health System plans to break ground for the building later this summer.

Brookings Health System’s Board of Trustees recently approved plans to build a new ambulance station and education center on health system property located along Yorkshire Drive, just south of Brookings Hospital. The health system will break ground later this summer.

“Brookings Health has operated the ambulance service for the City of Brookings and much of Brookings County since 1974. In that time, the ambulance service has never had a permanent home and its own dedicated space,” said CEO Jason Merkley. “The new ambulance station and education center will create a headquarters for the ambulance service while also serving the health emergency education needs of our community.”

When the health system first took on the ambulance service, staff parked ambulance vehicles in the emergency room’s attached garage. The vehicles would be in the way of other incoming emergency vehicles that required access to the ER. For ER efficiency, the ambulance service was moved to its current leased location along Eighth Street South in 2009.

The new 7,160 square-foot facility will again place the ambulance service in close proximity to Brookings Hospital and the ER. It will house all four advanced life support (ALS) vehicles, the mass casualty vehicle and the mobile first-aid station trailer. It will also provide living quarters for ambulance staff working over-night or 24-hour shifts, including bedrooms, bathrooms and a kitchen. The education center will hold training sessions for Brookings Health System employees and host community classes like First Aid and CPR.

Construction will be completed this winter. Mills Construction was awarded the bid as general contractor for the project.

Brookings Health System’s ambulance service provides emergency 911 ALS services for the City of Brookings, much of Brookings County and the communities of Aurora, Bruce, Bushnell, Sinai and Volga. It also assists area ambulance services from Arlington, Clear Lake, Elkton, Estelline, White and Lake Preston when requested. It handles both local and long-distance transports as well as emergency and non-emergency transfers.

More information about the ambulance service can be found online at www.brookingshealth.org/service/Ambulance.

About Brookings Health System
Brookings Health System, located in Brookings, South Dakota, includes a 49-bed hospital, the 79-bed The Neighborhoods at Brookview nursing home, Brookhaven Estates senior living apartments, Yorkshire Eye Clinic, and medical clinics in Arlington, White and Volga, South Dakota. It is a non-profit, city-owned facility that offers the community a full range of inpatient, outpatient, surgical and extended care services. The emergency room is staffed 24 hours a day and provides around the clock patient needs ranging from minor injuries to life threatening crises. For more information about the services offered at Brookings Health System, please call (605) 696-9000 or visit us on the Web at brookingshealth.org.