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Your Home for Health

2026

New Ambulance Will Help Kittitas County Patients Reach Specialized Care and Keep 911 Crews Close to Home

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Ambulance Will Help Kittitas County Patients Reach Specialized Care and Keep 911 Crews Close to Home. Kittitas Valley Healthcare, Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue, and Medic One back new AMR unit for patient transfers.

ELLENSBURG, Wash. Kittitas Valley Healthcare (KVH) will now have an ambulance dedicated to patient transfers, due to a new agreement with American Medical Response (AMR). The unit’s role will be to safely and quickly transport patients from KVH to other facilities and specialists while keeping local 911 medic crews close to home for emergencies.

“AMR is proud to partner with these organizations to help enhance access to timely patient care throughout the community,” said AMR Operations Manager, Gary Tucker-Atherley. AMR is a division of Global Medical Response. “By dedicating this ambulance to KVH, we can help ensure patients get to the specialized care they need while strengthening the healthcare ecosystem in the area and helping keep local 911 Medic Units available.”

The agreement reflects close collaboration between KVH, Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue (KVFR), and Kittitas County Hospital District 2 (Medic One). All three organizations supported the effort, which was led by Medic One Superintendent Rhonda Holden.

“When someone needs a specialist we don’t have here, we want to transfer them as quickly as possible to the expert providers they need,” said Jason Adler, CEO of Kittitas Valley Healthcare. “This unit gives our community a dedicated option, and it came from our local EMS partners and KVH working together.”

The effort grew out of a 2026 Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) initiative adopted by the KVH Board of Commissioners, “Inter-Facility Patient Transports Throughput.” The initiative aims to reduce delays in interfacility transport, decrease ED boarding time, and reduce the wait times in the KVH emergency department.

“An average of two interfacility transports per day occur out of KVH. We recognize the stress this puts on Kittitas County Advanced Life Support partners, as it takes our EMS providers out of the County for an average of 6 hours per transport,” said Rhonda Holden, Superintendent of Medic One. “Having this partnership with AMR ensures Medic One and KVFR remain available to respond to emergency calls in Kittitas County. This has been a very collaborative process between agencies to ensure the needs of our community are met.”

KVH also recognizes Dr. Chris Schmelzer, the local Medical Program Director (MPD), for his efforts on the EMS council to help increase Kittitas County’s Advanced Life Support (ALS) licenses from two to three.

Over the last five years, patients have had to wait approximately 15-18 hours for transfers to psychiatric facilities and about 6 hours for non-psychiatric transfers. Over that same period, Fire and Rescue’s call volume increased 32%: from 4,106 calls to 5,422.

“This partnership will improve our ability to keep Advanced Life Support medic units available for 911 calls in our community,” said Greg Rightmier, Fire Chief of KVFR. “KVFR will continue to partner with KVH Hospital to transport critical patients to definitive care outside the county. Together, we are strengthening our ability to meet both needs: responding to local emergencies and helping patients reach the specialized care they need.”

“This is a community problem, and we are solving it together,” said Adler. “I’m grateful to Chief Rightmier, Superintendent Holden, MPD Dr. Schmelzer and their boards and teams for the partnership.”

About Kittitas Valley Healthcare Kittitas Valley Healthcare
(KVH) proudly serves Kittitas County and surrounding rural communities as the region’s only health care system. Governed by a locally elected Board of Commissioners, KVH operates 25 beds providing acute care, critical care, and birthing beds, providing 24/7 emergency services and a full range of inpatient and outpatient care. Through multiple clinics and specialty services, KVH oAers family medicine, pediatrics, women’s health, behavioral health, cardiology, dermatology, ENT, orthopedics, podiatry, neurology, general and vascular surgery, urology, and urgent care. Additional services include home health, hospice, wound care, workplace health, and rehabilitation therapy. Committed to keeping high-quality care local, KVH strives to improve access and enhance the health and well-being of the communities it serves.

About Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue
(KVFR) provides fire protection, rescue, and emergency medical services through a dedicated team of over a hundred career and volunteer personnel. KVFR provides fire responses to 278 square miles and EMS response to roughly 1,200 square miles, responding to over 5,000 calls for service in 2025.

Media Contact
Mary Kay Clunies-Ross, Interim Director of Community Relations, marykay@mkcrsunshine.com

Photo of Greg Rightmier (Fire Chief, KVFR), Rhonda Holden (Superintendent, Medic-One), Jason Adler (CEO, KVH), Gary Tucker-Atherley (Operations Manager, AMR)
Greg Rightmier (Fire Chief, KVFR), Rhonda Holden (Superintendent, Medic-One), Jason Adler (CEO, KVH), Gary Tucker-Atherley (Operations Manager, AMR)

KVH CEO Jason Adler Named to Becker’s Hospital Review “Rising Stars: Healthcare Leaders Under 40” List

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National recognition highlights KVH teams’ work to keep health care close to home by expanding local specialty care, recruiting providers and strengthening hospital district finances

ELLENSBURG, Wash. — Kittitas Valley Healthcare (KVH) CEO Jason Adler has been named to Becker’s Hospital Review’s 2026 “Rising Stars: Healthcare Leaders Under 40” list, which recognizes leaders age 40 and younger working across the nation’s hospitals and health systems.

Becker’s developed the list based on nominations and editorial research, and leaders cannot pay for inclusion.

Adler has spent more than a decade at KVH. He joined in 2014 as a financial analyst, later served as CFO, and was promoted to CEO in December 2024. Becker’s recognized him for work across the organization, including:

  • Stabilizing KVH’s Family Birthing Place by reducing reliance on temporary (“locum tenens”) coverage and partnering with OBHG to secure three dedicated OB/GYN physicians, providing 24/7 labor and delivery coverage for families in Kittitas County.
  • Securing 26 providers across primary care and specialty services in his first year as CEO. This reversed prior vacancy trends and provided stability for providers and patients.
  • Improving access to needed specialty services, including podiatry, cardiology, urology and osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT).
  • Leading the hospital district’s first successful public levy in 61 years, which improves the hospital’s ability to keep care close to home.
  • Maintaining a positive operating margin, despite national financial pressures on rural hospitals.

“The recognition belongs to the dedicated and committed staff at KVH,” Adler said. “We have a strong commitment to keeping care local, and everything Becker’s recognized is a reflection of that. Our community voted and passed the levy, our recruitment and medical staff brought in 26 new providers, our clinic teams stood up new services, our quality teams led us through certifications, and our finance team keeps us on solid footing. I’m deeply grateful to everyone who works hard for KVH and for the community.”

Adler also thanked the KVH Board of Commissioners and the community. “Our Board has been a true partner. Their steady guidance and strong working relationship make it possible for us to set big goals and follow through. It’s an honor to do this work for our community and to help keep high-quality care local for our neighbors.”

“The board was thrilled to hear that Jason was named as a Rising Star for health care leaders under 40 from Becker’s Hospital Review this year,” said Jon Ward, chair of the KVH Board of Commissioners. “Health care leadership is a very challenging occupation, and we are fortunate to have Jason oversee the Kittitas Valley Healthcare organization. He brings a strong financial background, a passion for delivering quality community-based medical services, and a strong vision for the future to his role as CEO for KVH.”

The full Becker’s list and individual profiles are available at beckershospitalreview.com.

About Kittitas Valley Healthcare

Kittitas Valley Healthcare (KVH) proudly serves Kittitas County and surrounding rural communities as the region’s only health care system. Governed by a locally elected Board of Commissioners, KVH operates 25 acute care, critical care, and birthing beds, providing 24/7 emergency services and a full range of inpatient and outpatient care. Through multiple clinics and specialty services, KVH offers family medicine, pediatrics, women’s health, behavioral health, cardiology, dermatology, ENT, orthopedics, podiatry, neurology, general and vascular surgery, urology, and urgent care. Additional services include home health, hospice, wound care, workplace health, and rehabilitation therapy. Committed to keeping high-quality care local, KVH strives to improve access and enhance the health and well-being of the communities it serves.