Patients often face challenges that extend well beyond a single hospitalization, making it difficult to access the care and services necessary to stay healthy at home. The Community Paramedicine program at UHS closes those gaps by extending healthcare beyond traditional clinical settings to bring patient-centered care directly into the community.
This collaborative program brings together a number of UHS teams, including inpatient case management, Population Health, Virtual Health, Laboratory Services, Primary and Specialty Care and Community Paramedics to identify and support patients who are at increased risk for hospitalization or an emergency department (ED) visit and may benefit from proactive in-home care.
UHS Community Paramedicine is a referral-based program. Patients are referred through a variety of internal and external sources. Care and wellness coordinators from both inpatient and outpatient settings regularly refer patients facing chronic medical conditions, mobility challenges and other barriers that make accessing traditional healthcare services difficult.
These referrals are reviewed by the Virtual Health team in collaboration with UHS Community Paramedics to determine program eligibility and patient needs. Following this assessment, an individualized care plan is developed to address identified gaps in care, improve access to services and support the patient's overall health and wellness goals.
Care coordination is essential. Team members meet regularly and use secure communication tools within Epic to discuss patient needs, address care barriers and coordinate individualized care plans. By aligning clinical, social and logistical support services, the program helps patients remain safely in their homes and maintain independence while reducing unnecessary healthcare visits.
More than 83% of patients enrolled in the program avoided ED visits or hospitalizations during the 30 days following discharge from the program. The program has also helped reduce average inpatient length of stay by approximately 3.5 days per patient, and 95% of participants are connected with ongoing preventive care services upon program completion.
As of Feb. 1, 2026, UHS community paramedics had completed a total of 1,452 visits for 279 unique patients. In the first half of 2026, the team provided 646 visits to 128 patients, averaging nearly 25 patient visits each week.
For more information about the Community Paramedicine program, contact Sean Dolan, System Program Manager, Virtual Health and Digital Transformation, UHS, at sean.dolan@nyuhs.org or (607) 240-2135.
Watch a video from the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) to learn more about this team’s work: