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For immediate release April 24, 2003
Contact: For AMR, Tracy Thomas, 214-353-7610,
cell 214-914-4289
For Tenet, Janeen Browning, 469-893-6195, cell 469-585-0573
AMERICAN MEDICAL RESPONSE GIVES
TWO AMBULANCES TO PANAMA
AMR, Tenet HealthSystem and MediSend
International team up to bring two ambulances to remote mountain
villages.
(Dallas) -American Medical Response (AMR),
the largest ambulance service in the United States, will donate
two retired ambulances to a small city hospital and a remote
mountain clinic in Panama at a ceremony Thursday, May 1 at
12:00 noon in Dallas. The ceremony will take place at Tenet
HealthSystem’s Service Center at 13737 Noel Road.
The Honorable Carlos Arosemena, Consulate General
for the Republic of Panama in Houston, The Honorable Mario
Vilar, Vice Consul for the Republic of Panama in Houston and
Adan Rios, M.D., Ambassador at Large for the Promotion of
Health in the Republic of Panama, will accept the ambulances
from Bill Pahl, chief executive officer of AMR’s South
Central Region. Dr. Rios is an oncologist practicing in Houston.
Also attending will be Martin Lazar, M.D., founder of MediSend
International and Charlie Slaton, Tenet’s senior vice
president of Texas operations.
The donation came about when Dr. Rios hosted
Slaton at a medical symposium in Santiago, Panama, last year.
When Dr. Rios said ambulances were needed in Santiago and
in a more distant town, Las Palmas, Slaton took action by
contacting AMR and MediSend International, a non-profit organization
that collects surplus medical equipment and supplies across
the U.S. and ships them to hospitals and clinics in developing
nations.
AMR’s Pahl said, “We are happy
to contribute these vehicles to support Panama’s healthcare
system. As a world leader in medical transportation, we know
there are many ambulance operations around the world in need
of vehicles and equipment. When we can, we are glad to share
critical tools such as these ambulances. It is our pleasure
to team up on this initiative with Tenet, our valued customer
and with MediSend, who are experts devoted to international
projects of this nature.”
The ambulances will go to the Hospital Luis
Chicho Fabrega in Santiago and the Centro de Salud (“health
center”) do las Palmas de Veraguas, a remote clinic
in the mountain town of Las Palmas. Santiago is four hours
north of Panama City and Las Palmas is an hour north of Santiago.
Dr. Rios has said Las Palmas has no ambulance at all.
MediSend has coordinated the donation with
the Republic of Panama and the Panamanian government will
pay for shipping.
Over the past two years, AMR has donated several
retired ambulances to medical rescue organizations, both within
and outside the US. In fall 2002, AMR donated two ambulances
to a medical rescue service in Hatillo, Puerto Rico.
About American Medical
Response, Inc.: American Medical Response, Inc. (www.amr-inc.com)
is locally operated in 34 states. More than 18,000 AMR paramedics,
EMT’s and other professionals transport over four million
patients nationwide each year in emergency, critical and non-emergency
situations. AMR, a wholly owned subsidiary of Laidlaw, Inc.,
is headquartered in Greenwood Village, CO.
About Tenet Healthcare
Corporation: Tenet Healthcare Corporation, through
its subsidiaries, owns and operates 114 acute care hospitals
with 27,882 beds and numerous related health care services.
Tenet and its subsidiaries employ approximately 116,500 people
serving communities in 16 states. Tenet’s name reflects
its core business philosophy: the importance of shared values
among partners – including employees, physicians, insurers
and communities – in providing a full spectrum of health
care. Tenet can be found on the World Wide Web at www.tenethealth.com.
About MediSend International:
MediSend International is a non-profit organization that collects
surplus medical supplies and equipment for distribution to
developing countries. The organization collects from hospitals,
clinics, agencies and individuals and ships in response to
requests from pre-qualified institutions serving the medical
needs of the indigent. Since the organization was founded
in 1990, MediSend International has shipped nearly 14 million
dollars of equipment and supplies to 70 countries. Visit the
website at www.medisend.org.
# # #
NORTH TEXAS DIVISION
2603 Inwood, Dallas, TX 75235 / 214-353-7610
April, 28 2003
MEDIA ADVISORY
WHAT: a ceremony to donate two ambulances
to the Republic of Panama, to serve a small city hospital
and a clinic in a mountain town:
American Medical Response -- “AMR” --the largest
ambulance service in the U.S. is donating the ambulances.
The ambulances will be on display. To consummate the donation,
AMR will transfer vehicle titles and hand over the keys.
WHEN: Thursday,
May 1, 2003, 12:00 noon Central
WHERE: Tenet
HealthSystem, 13737 Noel Road, Dallas (about one mile from
the Galleria). Rain or shine, the presentation will be on
Tenet’s front lawn.
WHO: Participants
will be
• The
Honorable Carlos Arosemena, Consulate General for the Republic
of Panama in Houston; The Honorable Mario Vilar, Vice Consul
for the Republic of Panama in Houston, and Adan Rios, M.D.,
Ambassador at Large for the Promotion of Health in the Republic
of Panama (Dr. Rios is an oncologist practicing in Houston)
•
Charlie Slaton, Senior Vice President of Texas operations,
Tenet HealthSystem
•
Martin Lazar, M.D., founder, MediSend International (a non-profit
that collect surplus medical supplies and equipment and provides
them to developing nations) (Dr. Lazar is a well-known Dallas-area
neurosurgeon.)
•
Bill Pahl, CEO, AMR South Central Region and Tracy Thomas,
Vice President of Operations, AMR North Texas
SIGNIFICANCE:
As a gesture of international goodwill, AMR, Tenet and MediSend
are teaming up to provide two “retired” ambulances
to Panama’s small city of Santiago and the mountain
town of Las Palmas. Both communities badly need these ambulances.
Las Palmas currently has no ambulance at all.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
For AMR, Tracy Thomas, 214-353-7610, cell: 214-914-4289
For Tenet, Janeen Browning, 469-893-6195, cell: 469-585-0573
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