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Show I 1 t i i. I I County-VVMC agree on ambulance plan; Barnes sells out Stste IVess Ity .lav Wamslev The initial steps for the Iron County to "get into the ambulance business" were taken this week as the county commission purchased a back-up unit and gave their approval for the purchase pur-chase of a new emergency vehicle. The commission and Valley View-Medical View-Medical Center also worked out an agreement this week that will enable the emergency service to be stationed at the hospital. "We worked diligently to get this thing worked out," Commission Chairman Grant Seaman said. "We explored every possible avenue and the people who really cooperated were the hospital staff." Costly venture Getting into the ambulance business will cost the county at least $14,000 initially, as the price tag on the new vehicle, to be purchased along with 12 others by the State Division of Health, will come to about $10,000 for the county's part. Plus the back-up unit purchased from Don Barnes, Southern Cross Ambulance, was $3800. In a special meeting Monday, the N commissioners purchased the recently overhauled Barnes vehicle for $:SH00 and hired Barnes to operate the vehicle unit until it can be based at the hospital and manned by volunteers. The county also agreed Monday to pay all operating expenses and additional Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT's) as required until October 12. The hospital based operation is expected to go into operation on October Oc-tober 1, the commissioners said The commissioners reviewed the agreement with the Valley View Medical Center on Thursday and received the sanction of Delbert S perry, Emergency Operations Coordinator, Bureau of Emergency Medical Services, State Division of Health. Pushed for purchase Sperry said the$23.WHi retail value ambulance--"an emergency room on wheels" -to be purchased by the state should be in Iron County in 60-90 days. The state, he said, should be able to get the vehicles on a bid basis for about $19,000. They in turn would sell one unit to Iron County for about $9,000, after a $10,000 state grant makes up the dif ference. Sperry said however, in most cases staffing was the biggest expense in an ambulance service. He said state laws required at least two EMT's or MD's or registered nurses, or any combination of the three, must go with all ambulance am-bulance calls. Heated, covered holding areas are also required for all new vehicles, too, Sperry added. The county plans to use a system of volunteers to man the vehicle when hospital personnel are not able to, such as night and weekend hours. Hospital maintenance people are planning to .take the EMT test. Scott Haycock, maintenance director, said. The rough draft of the VVMC Iron County Agreement spells out the areas each will provide, for the county, they include: Lists requirements All ambulance equipment, now and in the future, such as stretchers, oxygen tanks and other permanent fixtures: Major repairs and replacements, such as tires and other major fixtures. The county will also be responsible for medical liability insurance. The agreement stated the county shall pay all ambulance operators at the rate of $8 per hour with an $8 minimum payment per run. When one of the ambulance personnel is a hospital employee, the county is to reimburse VVMC directly at the same rate of pay as volunteers are paid. Any loss at the end of each calendar year will be borne by the county, the agreement says, while gains shall be split on a 50 percent basis. Need pagers The county is also to purchase three Motorola pagers to be used by on-call personnel. The hospital already has a Motorola radio transmitter base station. Volunteers will not be paid for on-call time. Any training expenses for volunteers and hospital employees is to be paid by the county, according to the agreement. The hospital is to provide, along with a heated covered storage area, maintenance for the vehicle, such as gas, oil and proper cleanliness. (continued on page 3) County-VVMC agree (continued from page 1) Necessary medical supplies and linen, such as disposable bandages, disin- fectants, syringes, any sheets, pillows, and blankets are to be supplied bv the VVMC. Hospital will bill All accounting records and billing procedures are to le taken care of by the Intermountain Health Care, Inc., run-medical center. The county, however, is free to audit at anytime, the agreement states. All calls for ambulance service will le received by the hospital once the volunteer-paging system is functioning, func-tioning, about October 1. The hospital also shall be responsible for establishing charges for ambulance service within limitations set by the State of Utah. Preliminary discussion with S perry indicated rates would be $5(1 per run and a possible $1 a mile on transfers. Records indicate 20-2!) 20-2!) runs are made each month. The agreement also states the contract con-tract can be terminated with 90 days written notice and "if volunteers are not available the hospital will not be held responsible (or liable) for providing ambulance service." Need volunteers Those attending the Thursday meeting, Sperry, Commissioners Seaman and Cleo Wood, Susan Taysom, director of nursing, and Reginald Hughes, VVMC ad-minstrator, ad-minstrator, agreed the volume of ambulance business in Iron County was low enough there could be no viable service unless volunteers are involved. Sperry said state regulations do not require a back-up unit, "but would you trust your county to no back-up when transfers are made?" "The economics of the thing almost discourage a back-up unit," Hughes said. "It is better the .system be economically sound than to have no service at all." Tart of the urgency in purchasing the Barnes ambulance and instituting the agreement, Commissioner Seaman noted, was receiving notice from Barnes he had been offered employment em-ployment in California and was planning to leave the county. |
