Emergency Medical Assistance for Morgan County

I wrote this article back in August of 2011, so the information could be dated, but I thought it might be more relevant now that the new budget has taken affect.  People may want to know why we are having trouble getting emergency service throughout the county. 


On August 24th The Mooresville Times reported that the Morgan County Council voted 5-2 to cut Emergency Medical Assistance for Morgan County.  What that means is that on January 1st 2012, when the new budget takes effect, ambulances will no longer have a paramedic available and 6 months after that ambulance services will be terminated altogether.  Councilman Robert Neil reported to The Times that EMA services have run more than 270 calls so far this year and are expected to run around 400 calls by the end of this year.  That’s a lot of calls for a service that is about to be suspended. 
                Those voting for the cuts are arguing that the private contractor Rural Metro, who currently has a contract with the county, will be able to pick up the slack.  In reference to the Rural Metro contract Councilman Bob O’Neal was quoted by The Times as saying; “They must be making money,” because Rural Metro has not been billing the county for the $50,000 per the terms of the contract. 
Council members are also hoping the 11 township fire departments can pick up the slack.  As a result, a measure was put forth to give each fire department $15,000 from the county local option income tax fund (LOIT).  Councilman Ryan Goodwin, who voted against suspending EMA services along with Councilman Kenny Hale, made a motion to raise the amount from $15,000 to $20,000 each since they will now be expected to cover 400+ service calls previously handled by the county EMA services.  A special meeting will be held on Friday August 26th to authorize the disbursement of these funds to the local departments.
One more item of note in The Times this week is that the council also voted to give all county employees a 2% pay increase.  On the surface that can really get your blood boiling.  They cut our emergency services and gave themselves a raise?  Yes.  But if you read the entire article you’ll find that county employees are also going to take a major hit in the area of health insurance.  Like most of us who work in the private sector, the county insurance costs have gone up.  A family plan will increase from $272 per month to $444.  That’s about $2000 per year more.  So, unless you are a county employee who makes more than $100,000 per year or you don’t carry health insurance through the county, you are still on the losing end of this increase.  That sounds just like my raise this year.  I lost about $10 a week thanks to the increase in insurance premiums. 
The council obviously had a lot of tough financial decisions to make for the 2012 budget, but I take issue with their cutting the EMA services and here’s why.  The Rural Metro website has a listing of their resource locations.  In Morgan County they currently have two “Medic” units stationed in Martinsville and one “Medic” unit stationed at St. Francis Hospital in Mooresville.  That’s not very reassuring if you happen to live in Eminence.  The nearest Rural Metro unit is about 30 minutes away from you there.  Councilman Bryan Collier, who voted to suspend EMA services, is also firefighter with the Martinsville Fire Department.  He advised The Times that he was glad EMA services were there.  “I was on a medical run at a home in Martinsville and needed an ambulance.  Rural Metro was not available so EMA came to the scene.”  Perhaps with the additional $20,000 his department will be getting from the LOIT funds Councilman Collier’s fire department will be able to run their own ambulance and not need to rely on Rural Metro to respond.
A little further digging on the Rural Metro website turns up some more disturbing information.  As of June 2011 Rural Metro has been bought by an investment company, Warburg Pincus.  A little googling on Warburg Pincus reveals that they make their money buying companies, streamlining them a bit and selling them off.  I think it’s safe to assume that once Warburg Pincus gets into the Rural Metro books the Morgan County billing mishap will be corrected.  At minimum the county can likely expect a renegotiation of their contract next year.  Having passed the measure to eliminate EMA services will not put them in the best negotiating position.  At worst, Rural Metro’s new management might find their services in Morgan County are not profitable enough to continue.  That would force all the responsibility of covering all 409 square miles of Morgan County’s emergency service needs onto the 11 fire stations scattered among the 13 townships. 
To the County Council I would say this.  I understand you might be in a tough spot budget wise, but in the future please do a little homework before possibly compromising public safety.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 30, 2012 at 8:41 PM

    Remember Ricky Tankersley, the 20 year old firefighter who died in Monrovia TWO MINUTES FROM THE FIRE STATION HE WORKED AT?! Expect to hear more of that kind of ending to Morgan County's EMS stories if this is the route they are set on taking.

    At one time I worked for Rural Metro. I was told by my manager that they only offered Emergency Medical Dispatch as a curtousy to the counties they are contracted with including Morgan. I was never even CPR certified let alone EMD trained! I was fast forwarded through the minimal training at the speed of light because they were short a person when they hired me and had proceeded to fire two more people my first week! I spent my entire time there poorly trained and ill prepared to help anyone with a real emergency. When I asked about being EMD trained I was told that there wouldn't be any local classes for a long time and that the company would not pay to send me out of town for the training.

    Rural Metro also pays its employees at a rate that is in the lowest 10% in the country for EMS. That is after all how the investment company is making its money. Well, that and they let go of pretty much all of the people making "too much" money (ie - employees that had been there through Meyers and Aide and might not like a new regime) including a sales rep, an HR manager, a communications manager, a supply manager, a training manager and an operations manager. Some were told they could go back on the street as a paramedic or an EMT at the capped maximum salary of $20 an hr or leave. Others were given no option but to leave.

    And how about that big fat F that the BBB has given them? It hasn't budged in the past year.

    Finally, I think it should be noted that the current division general manager is under investigation by Rural Metro's Corporate HR for an alledged inappropriate office relationship with an employee under him.

    The EMTs and Paramedics at Rural Metro are great people and good at their jobs. The company, however, is the worst one I have ever worked for. They are a FOR PROFIT AMBULANCE COMPANY MAKING MONEY OFF THE SICK AND INJURED!

    Is this REALLY the company you want providing you with Emergency Medical Service? Do you REALLY want your tax dollars going to an investment corporation that doesn't give a damn about its employees or your county? Our governement just keeps on farming out jobs to the lowest bidder at the expense of our jobs and now OUR LIVES!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hoosier_DadMay 17, 2012 at 8:43 AM

    Last night a man died in a fire in Brooklyn. Our hearts go out to his family. The first responders had to wait on an ambulance from Plainfield which arrived too late.
    http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-morgan-county-fire-claims-one-life-20120517,0,7533272.column?track=rss

    ReplyDelete

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