Changes will improve service, municipalities say
By Dave Umhoefer
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)
Copyright 2006 Journal Sentinel Inc.
A revamped county-suburban contract for paramedic service will mean improved emergency medical care and higher fees, officials said Tuesday.
The highly touted paramedic system, under which eight fire departments cover all of Milwaukee County, briefly appeared in trouble this summer when County Executive Scott Walker said he might not be able to fund it.
Fire chiefs, suburban elected officials and County Board members led by Supervisor Mark Borkowski lobbied to keep the program intact, citing it as a national model of intergovernmental cooperation.
The Milwaukee County Board votes Thursday on a new two-year deal to extend the program and increase local control, which, officials said, some suburban fire departments would use to boost paramedic staffing and raise long-frozen fees for medical care. Municipalities are reviewing it, too.
The county oversees training, directs medical aspects of the program and pays $3 million to the fire departments to help cover personnel and equipment costs.
Wauwatosa Fire Chief Dean Redman said more patients in his city who now receive care from an emergency medical technician would be treated by a more highly trained paramedic under flexible staffing rules in the proposed contract. Redman said he will add four paramedics next year to his current staff of 18.
In some cases, patient waiting times to get to a hospital would be reduced, Redman said. Under the current setup in Wauwatosa and elsewhere, a paramedic unit cannot transport a patient if his or her life is not in danger, he explained. A second unit has to be called in.
The new contract would take effect in January and make it easier to combine paramedic and emergency medical technician personnel in a single unit, eliminating such situations, Redman said.
Wauwatosa would end up with a paramedic and an EMT on two rigs for advanced cases, plus two EMT-staffed rigs for basic life support. That compares with one rig now with a paramedic and three for basic cases.
“We like this model much better as a way to provide service,” Redman said.
He added that better backup coverage offering paramedic service would be available during busy times.
Franklin Fire Chief James Martins said his department would put a second paramedic unit into operation next year under the new rules. The result would be a higher level of care, Martins said.
“We strongly believe it will result in better service for people,” said county Health and Human Services Director Rob Henken, whose agency negotiated the contract with the fire officials.
The new contract would shift patient billing and fee collection to municipalities, which could keep revenue they earn. They also would be allowed to serve patients in communities outside the county if service here is not affected.
The municipalities intend to adopt the same fee schedule, Martins said. For the first time, non-residents of Milwaukee County would be charged more than residents for paramedic treatment. The basic charge for residents transported by a paramedic unit would go from $509 to $585; defibrillation, from $55.50 to $85. Fees have not increased since 2003.
The county contract is with the municipalities of Franklin, Greenfield, Milwaukee, Oak Creek, South Milwaukee, Wauwatosa and West Allis and with the North Shore Fire Department.
One cloud still hangs over the program. The new contract would not guarantee the county would continue to pay $3 million to the municipalities. That battle will be fought annually, all sides say. Fire chiefs say an end to the payment could unravel the program.