STODDARD AMBULANCES TO OFFER RIDES

DEXTER -- Ruth Sprinkle is going "home for the holidays."

Sprinkle, a patient at Bloomfield Nursing Center, is one of several nursing home patients in Stoddard County who will receive free rides from nursing homes to visit their families for the Thanksgiving holidays.

"This marks the eighth year we have conducted our `Home For the Holidays' program," said Terry Elsworth, assistant manager of the Stoddard County Ambulance Service.

"This service is available to any patient in the county that is not ambulatory," said Elsworth. "Visits can last from a few hours to overnight. Following the visit, we will transport the patient back to the nursing home."

The program will be conducted Nov. Wednesday through Friday for Thanksgiving and Dec. 24, 25 and 26 for Christmas.

"This is a wonderful program," said Sue Welborn, recreation coordinator at the Bloomfield center. "Mrs. Sprinkle is looking forward to a visit with her daughter and other relatives."

Stoddard County Ambulance District manager David Cooper said the program had been well received since its start in 1986.

"We feel that Thanksgiving and Christmas are times when people should be together. We recognize that several families cannot be with one another due to their confinement in area nursing homes," said Cooper.

"This will be the district's gift to these patients," said Cooper. "There is no charge to the patient or their family for this service."

Anyone interested in the program should contact the activity director at the patient's nursing home, said Cooper. All arrangements will be through the nursing home, which will contact the ambulance office to set up a schedule.

The "Home for the Holidays" ambulance will be manned by EMT/Paramedic volunteers.