09/14/2026
Greenport Rescue Squad, Inc. Awarded $312,035 to Strengthen Emergency Maternal and Newborn Care Across Columbia County
Regional initiative brings together Columbia County’s four community EMS agencies, Columbia County EMS, and Columbia Memorial Health to expand training, equipment, technology, and coordination for mothers and newborns
HUDSON, N.Y. — Greenport Rescue Squad, Inc. has received an award up to $312,035.67 through the New York State Rural Health Transformation Program’s Rural Community Health Integration initiative to launch the Columbia County Regional Emergency Maternal Care Integration Initiative, a countywide collaboration designed to strengthen emergency care for pregnant patients, mothers, newborns, and children.
The initiative brings together Columbia County’s four community EMS agencies — Greenport Rescue Squad, Community Rescue Squad, Valatie Rescue Squad, and Chatham Rescue Squad — along with Columbia County EMS and Columbia Memorial Health around one goal: ensuring patients experiencing maternal, neonatal, or pediatric emergencies receive a consistent and coordinated standard of care regardless of where in Columbia County the emergency occurs.
“This project is an example of what makes EMS in Columbia County special,” said PJ Keeler, Columbia County EMS Coordinator. “We have four community EMS agencies that recognize the value of working together and working closely with our community hospital. When you bring those organizations to the same table, share resources, and focus on what is best for the patient, projects like this are possible. This investment will give our EMS providers and hospital partners common tools, common training, and an even stronger ability to care for some of our most vulnerable patients.”
The investment will provide advanced maternal, neonatal, and pediatric emergency training for approximately 130 healthcare professionals, including paramedics, nurses, respiratory therapists, advanced practice providers, and physicians. From the initial 911 response through emergency department stabilization and transport, the goal is for healthcare professionals caring for mothers and newborns to have opportunities to train together and operate from a common standard of care. More than $60,000 of the award will support neonatal resuscitation education and advanced maternal and neonatal simulation equipment.
Each participating EMS agency and Columbia Memorial Health’s Emergency Department will benefit from new training resources, standardized pediatric emergency bags, and specialized neonatal and pediatric equipment.
The project will also implement a physician-designed pediatric and neonatal app and clinical decision-support technology across participating EMS agencies and Columbia Memorial Health’s Emergency Department. The technology will tie together medications, dosages, equipment sizing, and treatment protocols, giving EMS and hospital clinicians rapid access to consistent clinical guidance during time-sensitive pediatric and neonatal emergencies.
For patients and families, the goal is simple: the same approach, the same information, and the same standard of care, whether treatment begins in an ambulance or the Emergency Department.
The initiative will also introduce enhanced neonatal respiratory support, warming, and advanced transport capabilities designed to help keep mothers and their infants safe, warm, and together whenever clinically appropriate.
At the center of the initiative is a simple idea: when a mother or newborn needs emergency care, geography should not determine the quality of that care. Whether a family calls 911 from one of Columbia County’s rural communities or arrives at the Emergency Department, they should be met by healthcare professionals who are prepared, equipped, and working together.
“The CMH Emergency Department collaborates every day with Columbia County’s four EMS agencies to provide advanced, lifesaving care to our community,” said Dorothy Urschel, president and CEO of CMH. “This new initiative will strengthen maternal, neonatal, and pediatric emergency care by enhancing coordination among EMS providers, emergency physicians, and care teams across the region. Together, we are helping ensure that mothers, infants, and children receive the right care at the right time, improving outcomes for local families when they need it most.”
Maternal and neonatal emergencies present unique challenges in rural communities. While these emergencies may be uncommon for individual clinicians, they can require immediate intervention, specialized equipment, and rapid coordination between EMS, emergency department clinicians, and regional specialty centers. In a rural healthcare system, where specialized maternal and neonatal resources may be located significant distances away, the ability to begin advanced care locally and continue that care seamlessly during transport can be critical.
“This level of collaboration between EMS and our hospital is exactly the teamwork needed for good medicine,” said Aidan S. O’Connor, Jr., Executive Director of Greenport Rescue Squad, Inc. “A mother shouldn’t have to think about which ambulance agency is responding or whether she is in the care of EMS or the emergency department; she should simply receive excellent care from professionals who have trained together, have the right equipment, and operate as one healthcare system.”
“Mothers and newborns deserve every bit of this investment,” O’Connor continued. “These are some of the most important patients we will ever be entrusted to care for, and our responsibility is to be ready when they need us. We are incredibly grateful to New York State and our federal partners for this opportunity and for recognizing that rural communities deserve access to advanced training, technology, and lifesaving resources.”
Beyond equipment and education, the initiative will establish shared maternal and neonatal emergency protocols, multidisciplinary EMS and hospital simulation exercises, regional quality-improvement processes, and ongoing collaboration between prehospital and hospital clinicians.
Rather than duplicating specialized resources within individual organizations, equipment will be strategically distributed throughout the participating EMS agencies and Columbia Memorial Health, with specialized resources available for shared use when appropriate.
The long-term goal is to create a sustainable regional system in which Greenport Rescue Squad, Community Rescue Squad, Valatie Rescue Squad, Chatham Rescue Squad, Columbia County EMS, and Columbia Memorial Health continue to train, plan, evaluate care, and respond together.
The award of up to $312,035.67 implementation award supports regional coordination and community engagement, neonatal resuscitation education and simulation, countywide pediatric and neonatal clinical decision support, neonatal respiratory support, and neonatal thermal protection and transport.
About Greenport Rescue Squad, Inc.
Greenport Rescue Squad, Inc. is a nonprofit emergency medical services organization serving eleven communities throughout Columbia County. In 2025, we were awarded the NYS EMS Agency of the Year, and in 2026 we are celebrating our 90th anniversary. Greenport Rescue Squad, Inc. provides advanced life support (ALS) at the Paramedic level EMS with nearly 8,000 requests for help annually.
About Columbia Memorial Health
Columbia Memorial Health has served the Hudson Valley since 1893. An acute care hospital in Hudson, New York, with more than 37 primary and specialty care centers serving patients in Columbia, Greene, and Dutchess counties, Columbia Memorial Health provides services to more than 110,000 residents, with a focus on primary care, health education, and advanced surgery. Columbia Memorial Health is a member of the Albany Med Health System, which also includes Albany Medical Center, Albany Medical College, Glens Falls Hospital, Saratoga Hospital, and the Visiting Nurses. The System has 1,520 beds, more than 900 physicians and 125 outpatient locations serving the region’s three million people.
About Columbia County EMS
Columbia County EMS is a county-designed system that creates a coordinated, systematic approach to emergency medical care throughout Columbia County. Through system status management, preplanned mutual aid, and countywide coordination, the system brings together Greenport Rescue Squad, Community Rescue Squad, Valatie Rescue Squad, and Chatham Rescue Squad while allowing each community EMS agency to retain its independent identity.
The collaborative model allows the four agencies to come together for training, planning, resource coordination, and countywide emergency responses, strengthening the EMS system while preserving the community-based organizations that serve it.
