The University of Vermont Health Network – Elizabethtown Community Hospital Paramedic Training Program is Accepting Applications for a New Class

Elizabethtown, NY–The University of Vermont Health Network - Elizabethtown Community Hospital will begin accepting applications for its Paramedic Education Program on Monday, January 17. The program, launched in 2018 to address a shortage of local paramedic education opportunities, is the region’s first New York State Department of Health accredited program. This year’s program will begin on July 22.

“This is an incredible opportunity for students to gain the experience they need to provide high quality, life-saving care right in their own communities,” said Elizabethtown Community Hospital Paramedic Program Director Bruce Barry. “And skilled medical providers are needed now more than ever.”

Upon completion of the program, students receive Advanced Life Support (ALS) Certification and are prepared to sit for the New York State Paramedic Certification exam. Applications for the 18-month program must be received by March 1, 2022. Those interested can find the application at ech.org.

Hands-on clinical training is offered at 15 regional health care organizations and 30 EMS agencies across Northern New York and Vermont. Classrooms locations in Lewis, Malone, and Queensbury and online coursework make it easier for students from Clinton, Essex, Franklin, St. Lawrence, Warren, and Washington counties to learn closer to home.

“We worked closely with many partners to design a program that maximizes the student’s exposure to regional health care organizations while minimizing travel,” Barry said.

The program has been a success, with 100% of graduates obtaining employment. The current class is anticipated to have 19 additional graduates.

Paramedic certification is the highest level of pre-hospital care certification. While EMTs and paramedics are both highly-trained health care professionals who respond to medical emergencies in the pre-hospital setting, paramedics build on their EMT training to develop more advanced skills such as administering medications, starting intravenous (IV) lines, providing advanced airway management and learning to resuscitate and support patients with life-threatening problems such as heart attacks and traumatic injuries.

Tuition and fees for the 2022 program is $6000 and scholarships are available. Scholarship details can be found here. Program graduates are eligible for academic credit through North Country Community College. To learn more about the program, please visit www.ech.org or call (518) 873-3022.

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About Elizabethtown Community Hospital

The University of Vermont Health Network - Elizabethtown Community Hospital is a designated critical access hospital and the primary health care provider serving residents in Essex County and northern Warren and Washington Counties in New York.

Elizabethtown Community Hospital is transforming rural health care at its main campus in Elizabethtown, NY, at a new emergency department and outpatient center in Ticonderoga, NY, and at six community-based primary health care centers located throughout the region. The hospital is one of the community’s largest employers with 350 employees.

Across the Elizabethtown and Ticonderoga campuses, the hospital maintains two 24-hour emergency rooms, a 25-bed inpatient unit, physical therapy, laboratory, and digital radiology departments; and a variety of specialty physician clinics on a weekly and monthly basis.  

Elizabethtown Community Hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission and is licensed and certified by the New York State Department of Health and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

About The University of Vermont Health Network
The University of Vermont Health Network is an academic health system that is comprised of six affiliate hospitals, a multi-specialty medical group, and a home health agency. We serve the residents of Vermont and northern New York with a shared mission: working together, we improve people’s lives.  Our partners include:

• The University of Vermont Medical Center
• The University of Vermont Health Network Medical Group
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Alice Hyde Medical Center
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Elizabethtown Community Hospital
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Porter Medical Center
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Home Health and Hospice

Our 4,000 health care professionals are driven to provide high quality, cost-efficient care as close to home as possible. Strengthened by our academic connection to the University of Vermont, each of our hospitals remains committed to its local community by providing compassionate, personal care shaped by the latest medical advances and delivered by highly skilled experts.