New Emergency Medical Services Partnership with Marin County and Marin General Hospital Benefits North Bay Community
GREENBRAE, CA — The relationship between Marin County and Marin General Hospital has come full circle for the provision of emergency medical services (EMS) to the North Bay community, as the hospital begins funding the new County Fire Department medical director position. Mark Bason-Mitchell, MD, who also is one of the Marin General Hospital emergency department physicians, has been named to the post.
Almost 30 years ago, Marin General Hospital, home to Marin County’s only trauma center, had a similar arrangement with the County, providing basic medical services from one of its physicians as an EMS consultant to the Marin County Fire Dept. Recognizing that more complete services were needed to benefit the community, Marin County hired a physician to work with its firefighters/paramedics. With rising costs and the need to streamline County services, Marin General Hospital has now stepped forward to provide support through program funds as well as the services of one of its own physicians.
“As a District Hospital, we view this collaboration as part of our mission,” says Lee Domanico, Chief Executive Officer, Marin General Hospital. “We see it as having great value for the community, and leading to a more coordinated experience and enhanced patient care.”
“We wanted expertise from a physician with direct emergency medical experience to help broaden the education of our paramedics,” says Mike Giannini, EMS Officer, who also is a Battalion Chief and longtime paramedic with the Marin County Fire Dept. in Woodacre. “Dr. Bason-Mitchell is ideally suited to this role, as he literally has worked in the trenches himself as an EMT. He will come out and teach at the stations, review cases, sit with the paramedics, and provide immediate feedback on active cases.”
The new arrangement involves Marin General Hospital, the Marin County Fire Dept., the Ross Valley Paramedic Authority, and the Southern Marin Emergency Medical Paramedic System. The relationship also allows the fire departments to purchase medications and supplies for use by the paramedics, in addition to the provision of educational services.
Giannini says the three groups wanted to partner with Marin General Hospital at a higher level, with physician support to reinforce the work of the County paramedics and to provide a continuous feedback loop to improve patient care. Dr. Bason-Mitchell will work closely with more than 70 paramedics in 21 stations, providing hands-on medical direction with all fire agencies south of San Rafael, except Corte Madera, which is covered by another medical group.
In his new role, Dr. Bason-Mitchell will also serve as medical director for the Marin County Urban Search & Rescue Team, a multi-agency collaboration, and he will serve as the liaison with the Marin County EMS Agency, which oversees emergency services for the area. He will continue to serve on the Marin County Continuing Quality Improvement Committee and the Policies and Procedures Committee.
Dr. Bason-Mitchell, who grew up in Menlo Park, got his early inspiration from his mother, who was a nurse. He attended the University of Southern California before transferring to UCLA, where he received his bachelor of science degree from UCLA in psychobiology. He received his master’s degree in physiology. He also received his EMT license while in college, and he worked as an emergency room technician. He earned his medical degree from Chicago Medical School, and he completed his emergency medicine residency at Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center, serving as chief resident of the program in 2002.
Dr. Bason-Mitchell joined the Marin General Hospital emergency medicine team in 2003. He also has been part of the Marin County EMS team, serving as a liaison for Marin General Hospital.
