The Racine Fire Department and Ascension All Saints Hospital are collaborating to create a program to have paramedics check in on patients who have been recently discharged from the hospital. Fire Chief Steve Hansen spoke to the City Council’s Committee of the Whole about the Mobile Integrated Health program during the committee’s Oct. 22 budget hearings. Hansen said the department will launch its trial period for the program in mid-November. The goal is to make sure patients are well on the road to recovery and don’t have to make any return trips to the hospital within a month of being discharged. For 2019, the Fire Department is adding a new position of division chief for professional standards, which will have two primary duties: review emergency notices and reports and manage the MIH program. The 2019 budget shows it intends to promote a current firefighter and not add another employee to the department rolls.