Copyright 2006 The Daily Oklahoman
By JIM EPPERSON III and Jim KILLACKEY
The Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
Ambulance officials in Oklahoma City and Tulsa said their businesses are not on the brink of shutting down, despite a state task force report that claims many Oklahoma emergency medical operations are “critical and unstable.”
In small, rural areas, emergency services are having funding problems and manpower shortages that are causing patients to arrive later at hospitals, according to the report.
The news is better for the Emergency Medical Services Authority in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, in part because the authority has branched out and now serves more metro cities.
That allows customers to share costs, said Tom Wagner, EMSA chief operating officer in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
Tulsa considers tax subsidy Still, cuts in federal reimbursements for services the authority provides are taking a toll.
EMSA has asked for a subsidy in Oklahoma City the past three years. In fiscal 2006, the amount was $3.62 million. In fiscal 2005, the amount was about $3.2 million. Officials hope to ask for less in fiscal 2007, they said.
EMSA in Tulsa, meanwhile, is making it’s first request to city officials for a taxpayers’ subsidy — $1.87 million for the 2007 fiscal year, which starts July 1.
The agency is making the request even though its Tulsa operation has had a cash reserve since 1978.
Tulsa voters also are being asked today to extend a one-third cent sales tax. Money from that extension would be used to buy 20 new EMSA ambulances there. Another 25 still would need to be replaced, said Tina Wells, spokeswoman for the authority in Tulsa.
Wells said cutbacks in Medicare reimbursements for transporting and treating senior citizens are hurting EMSA in Tulsa.
The increasing number of state baby boomers who are and will be on Medicare should provide further funding difficulties for EMSA statewide, she said.
In fact, Wells said, federal Medicare cuts for ambulance services cost EMSA $5.3 million in lost revenue from 2002 to 2005.
In all, Medicare cuts will have a total impact of $22.8 million in lost revenue to EMSA ambulance services between 2002 and 2010, Wells said.
Still, EMSA officials said Monday their operation is “financially sound.”
Wagner said Monday EMSA has been able to “regionalize” its ambulance services and improve funding, adding 12 communities near Oklahoma City and three near Tulsa.