For more than four decades, Kane County Hospital in Kanab, Utah, has answered the call when residents in Fredonia and surrounding parts of northern Arizona dial 911. This week, that stopped. (KUTV)
KANAB, Utah (KUTV) — For more than four decades, Kane County Hospital in Kanab, Utah, has answered the call when residents in Fredonia and surrounding parts of northern Arizona dial 911.
This week, that stopped.
The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) denied Kane County’s application for a Certificate of Necessity (CON), which is required for any ambulance provider operating in Arizona.
Without the certificate, Arizona now considers Kane County’s cross-border EMS response illegal, cutting these rural communities off from the only agency that has consistently served the area for decades.
The denial was followed by a formal complaint from Page Fire Department, which stated that Kane County Ambulance of transferring a patient from Banner Health in Page without a CON. The complaint alleges that the transport violated Arizona state law, even though Kane County Ambulance has operated in the region for over 40 years.
“It’s literally a matter of life and death,” said Rocky Russell, a lifelong Fredonia resident. “Where else are we going to get transportation to a hospital?”
The next nearest ambulance service is in Colorado City — more than 30 miles away from Fredonia, and even farther for the other communities previously covered by Kane County. Residents say response times could now stretch over an hour during the most critical situations.
Kane County Hospital CEO Kurt Loveless says the hospital has been trying to follow Arizona’s process for more than three years. The application has been revised and resubmitted multiple times.
"I've lost count of how many times we've resubmitted this application," Loveless said.
Loveless said the hospital applied for a CON not just to meet legal requirements, but to secure reimbursement from Arizona insurance providers, which would allow Kane County to bring in full-time EMS crews dedicated to the area.
Without the certificate, Arizona-based insurance companies won’t pay for transports, leaving the hospital to absorb the cost or bill patients directly. That model, Loveless says, isn’t sustainable.
“Your DPS, your sheriff’s department is calling us and asking us to come,” he said. “And under emergency mutual aid, we figured we were able to do that. I’d really like to continue to do that.”
Loveless said Noreen Adlin, Deputy Bureau Chief with ADHS, has overseen the application process from the beginning and also signed the notice of investigation. When he asked whether she understood what losing service would mean for Fredonia, her response, he said, was simply: “I’m aware.”
Residents say the move isn’t just bureaucratic — it’s dangerous.
"I'm tired of the bureaucratic bullcrap," said Russell’s wife, who did not provide her name. She says Kane County Ambulance has saved her husband's life, and the lives of many friends, more than once.
"The hospital has said they’ll continue doing it as a humanitarian service. The town has offered to help pay,” Russell said. “But because someone is on a power trip, people’s lives are being put at risk and it really, really needs to stop."
KUTV reached out to Noreen Adlin and the Arizona Department of Health Services to ask why the application was denied, what alternatives exist for rural families, and whether the state believes the region is adequately covered. As of publication, ADHS has not responded.
Kane County officials say they are ready to resume service immediately, as soon as Arizona allows it.
Until then, operating in Arizona would be considered a “willful and intentional act,” potentially opening up the agency — and individual EMTs — to legal prosecution.