Nurse-line coming to Richmond Heights to assist 911 callers. PUBLISHED: November 8, 2026 at 6:00 AM EST Calling 911 can seem like a daunting task, depending on what the problem is. It could be a matter of life or death, but in many cases the problem can be much simpler, such as needing a refill on a medication or help down the stairs. Starting in early 2027, those calling emergency services from Richmond Heights will have a new option built into the system. Crosswalk Health has partnered with University Hospitals to provide an option of being able to speak to a registered nurse when they call 911. Fire Chief Marc Neumann, alongside Nicole Sovizral, the city's firefighter/community paramedic, and Laura Frost a registered nurse at University Hospitals, explained to City Council that there would be no additional time added for people who are facing real emergencies. That's because there is a pre-determined script that all 911 operators follow in order to make sure they are as efficient as possible. Once a call is placed into the 911 system, the operator asks a series of questions. Once its established that emergency care is or is not needed, the call would be directed to a switch line of registered nurses, who will collect more information from the patient and design a care plan tailored to them. Neumann stressed that at any point, the person on the line could switch back to the emergency side and request an ambulance if they, or the nurse, felt the condition was deteriorating or more severe than they initially thought. This program is already in several other cities such as Columbus and will be coming to Euclid soon. But officials say that what makes the partnership with Richmond Heights special is that the city has the ability to have "boots on the ground" as Sovizral, the community paramedic for the city, will follow up on some of the cases in person. Neumann said they have many cases where people call 911 for either issues that can be handled at a lower priority, or are not true medical emergencies but still require intervention. This service would help weed out the cases where a full on response is not needed. "In short this is a way to improve patient care, reduce unnecessary emergency (costs), keep our ambulances available for true emergencies, and strengthen the long-term future of our community paramedic program, all at no cost to the city," Neumann said. Debate broke out among City Council members during their Oct. 27 meeting over whether adding the service would slow down treatment, with some stating concern that artificial intelligence would be used in some way. Neumann responded that the new service would reduce the number of calls that they had to go out on, and would thus lower the amount of spending in his department on emergency calls. This would allow them to use their resources more strategically, as several calls can come at once. The end result, he suggested, would be faster service when it mattered the most, adding that a human would always be at the other end of the line as the service as a call center of registered nurses who would be answering the call. Mayor Kim Thomas, suggested that council members read more about the program, adding that the presentation was purely informational, She noted that the program would be implemented by the administration and not require a vote by council. The service is expected to go live by early next year, once the technology required to do so is installed at the Chagrin Valley Dispatch center, which handles many of the 911 calls for the county. Neumann said that payment for the service will be serviced through a "couple of models," including "eventually billing under terms of Medicare for community paramedic services," he said. "Another one is a payment from Crosswalk for our community paramedic services, similar to what we are receiving now through University Hospitals." He said that the payment structure will be more flushed out once the program is adopted by other municipalities and they will know more by January or February. "We are in a unique position where we have a community paramedic program," he said. "Euclid is coming online and they do not have a community paramedic program. Its partners over at the Cleveland Clinic will also be getting a community paramedic program, and as this happens more and more communities will be coming online. So, it really depends on how that is structured... the technology has to be installed at CVD. "CVD are currently moving from three locations, centrally to one location," he added. "So all the technology is being brought up as they plan that move into that location and this is part of the technology that is coming in... we are all still working through that."