Ambulance authority prepares to take over service in new year
Posted on Thursday, November 6, 2008
Members of the Washington County Regional Ambulance Authority Executive Committee met Wednesday to continue some “ housekeeping” chores before its formal transition from the not-for-profit Central EMS Inc. takes place at the end of the year.
The new agency will be a quasi-governmental entity and the area’s exclusive ambulance service.
One of the first orders of business was to elect officers for the executive committee. Lloyd Swope was elected president; Fayetteville Fire Chief Tony Johnson, vice president; Prairie Grove Mayor Sonny Hudson, secretary; and Fayetteville Alderman Bobby Ferrell, treasurer.
Members also agreed upon two new members of the executive committee, one each from the financial and hospital areas, as is required by the bylaws of the authority. The new members are Greg Reed, president and CEO of Arvest Bank in Prairie Grove and LaQuita Jech, interim director of the emergency department at Washington Regional Medical Center.
Swope commented on Reed as a “ highly qualified individual. ”
“ He’s very knowledgeable, ” he said of Reed.
Central EMS chief Becky Stewart, soon to be Washington County Regional Ambulance Authority executive director, told executive committee members that Jech has worked for several years in the emergency department.
Another representative for the executive committee was to come from the nursing home field. Stewart had recommended Rochelle Masengill, administrator of Fayetteville Health and Rehabilitation Center on Old Missouri Road in Fayetteville. It was discovered, however, that she does not live in the Fayetteville city limits, as is required, so her name was withdrawn.
In another matter, the executive committee agreed to have a draft of the notification from Fayetteville and Prairie Grove, two cities represented in the authority that have nursing homes, to facilities and ambulance providers about the exclusivity that is part of the ambulance authority agreement.
This means that the authority, beginning Jan. 1, will be the exclusive ambulance provider for nonemergency calls.
The draft of the notification will be reviewed by attorneys from the county, Fayetteville and Prair ie Grove before it is considered for approval at a special meeting of the authority’s executive committee Nov. 19. Thirty-day notice will be given to providers and nursing homes for the exclusivity to take effect at the beginning of the new year.
It was noted in the meeting that the authority has its Medicare permit, but not its Medicaid permit, which should be approved in the next month.
At the request of Stewart, it was agreed that the transition from the notfor-profit Central EMS Inc. to the quasi-governmental Washington County Regional Ambulance Authority will be completed before the exclusivity agreement takes effect Jan. 1.
“ We have everything lined up to make the transition, ” Stewart said, adding, however, that the service is still operating as Central EMS Inc. until the Medicaid permit is approved.
Stewart said she and her staff also plan to visit providers and nursing homes about the new process and organization.
Among changes will be three new ambulances to help meet the non-emergency call needs.
“ We’ve certainly ramped up our operation to meet the needs, ” Stewart said.
It was agreed to keep the call rates that currently exist with the not-for-profit agency, but revisit them at a later date after the transition to the quasi-governmental agency occurs. Stewart said she would arrange a workshop to explain the rate structure to the executive committee. A public hearing on rates will be scheduled before the transition.
“ We would be glad to put something together: This is how we do rates, ” Stewart said.
“ It’s very complicated, ” she said, adding that what the ambulance service does now with rates is in line with what most other services are doing.
Tony Hickerson, chief financial officer of Central EMS, said he did not want to lock in any rates through a specific period of time — without looking at least at a tentative budget — after it was suggested the rates be revisited as late as next July.
The revenue picture and budget will determine what changes may need to be made at a later date, but it was mentioned that the exclusivity for nonemergency calls would add revenue.
County Administrator John Gibson said that the public will be watching the authority closely. He said there is an obligation to bring down the cost of the service to taxpayers.
“ We made some promises, ” he said. “ We need to keep them. ”
Gibson also announced to the executive committee that he will be staying in his position until April 4 to help Washington County Judgeelect Marilyn Edwards and her staff transition into office.
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