Community paramedic program expands in the metro

During the pandemic, there was a growing need for virtual and mobile health care. M Health Fairview community paramedics responded to the call.

On any given day, Thea Kogler drives 100 to 120 miles to visit the roughly 20 patients she has right now.

“Most of the patients are in the eastern, northern region of the Twin Cities,” she said. “Some patients I see on a weekly basis, some I see biweekly and some I see monthly. It all depends on the patient situations.”

Kogler is one of four M Health Fairview community paramedics. The company launched the program in 2018 to expand access to healthcare and reduce emergency room visits.

Physicians refer their patients to the program. The paramedics drive to the patient’s home to provide care in a comfortable setting.

Kogler does blood pressure checks, wound care, takes blood for lab work, does home safety evaluations, as well as medication setups and adjustments.

“What we try to do is fill the gaps in the health care system,” Kogler said.

Recently, they’ve seen more patients newly diagnosed with dementia. Kogler explained they help those individuals and their families with medication setups to make it easier to remember to take the prescriptions. She also frequently treats patients with lymphedema and diabetes.

“Diabetes is one of our big diseases we see a lot of people for and when they’re unable to control their sugars, if their sugars are going high all of the time or their sugars are going low, they have to go into the ED," Kogler said. “By us going out and visiting the patient and explaining the disease to them and what they have to do and maybe talking a little bit about diet, it has prevented them from having to call 911.”

The program has been slowly expanding since it launched. Kogler was the second community paramedic to join the team in March 2020.

She’s been a paramedic for 17 years.

“I started finding that I was going on 911 calls and realizing that if I had just a few minutes with these patients, I could explain what was going on and help them right in their home and avoid that ED admission,” she said. “So when this job opened up here at M Health Fairview, I took the position and it’s been absolutely wonderful ever since.”

A third paramedic joined the program in August 2020, the fourth paramedic joined the team in July.

Last month, M Health Fairview expanded its reach to make this an option for patients in all former HealthEast Primary Care clinics in the east metro.

“We got really, really busy with the pandemic,” Kogler said. “A lot of your elderly people and your immunocompromised individuals, they just weren’t able to get out or had a hard time getting out. […] We were able to go out there and assist the patient in their homes and keep them in their homes safe.”

The four paramedics each serve about 75 to 100 patients each year. While Kogler responds to patients in the north and east metro, others travel west and south.

Kogler said she’s enjoyed spending more time with her patients.

“I’m able to get to know the patient, I’m able to get to know the families because they’re just as much involved,” she said. “I’ve had patients up to six months. The downfall of that is you do get attached, even though it’s good for the patients [to graduate from the program] it is hard to say goodbye.”

She hopes they’ll be able to continue to grow, understanding how meaningful every mile is.

“When you see that maybe that a wound that has healed, they’ve had a diagnosis that they haven’t been able to control and it’s finally under control then I know that I’ve accomplished my job and it really makes me feel really good,” Kogler said. “It makes me want to come to work every day because I do know I can make a difference for these patients.”