05/27/1980 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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- money backing it. She wrote a letter May 13 to Gretchen Miller and will testify to anything she has said at this meetinq. She further stated she would never pay the $10.80 service charge. Marty Nelson, Chief of the Crow Valley Fire Protection District, stated any deci sions made tonight wi 11 have a great impact on the rural area. People are being billed for supplies paid for by the fire protection districts. He has been fighting this situation with MSI for five years. John Bush thinks there should be a complete investigation before any increases are considered. This is a publicly protected monopoly. The first three to five minutes are critical in saving someone's life. MSI pays low wages and benefits to their attendants and treats them in a militaristic fashion. This is an exclusive service district and they are asking for exorbitant increases. e John Hoyt, 2879 Spring Boulevard, identified himself as a retired flreflghter on disability pension. At 4 p.m. on May 27, he received a phone call stating that if he testified at this public hearing against Mr. Leonard, he would lose his Social Security benefits, and at that point, he decided he had to testify. Dennis Murphy, 2412 North 16th, Springfield, is a former EMS consul- tant for the City of Salem. MSI was the successful bidder for a Salem ambulance service but only 72 hours before service was to begin, they withdrew their bid. They now have a publicly owned and operated sys- tem and there has been a 40-percent reduction in rate charges. He urged them to study the City of Salem's operation. Other comments: Dr. John Dickenson, 255 East 11th, of the Executive Council of the Lane County Medical Society, is also on the Emergency Services and Disaster Planning Committee. This committee's function is to review problems with emergency medicine in the community. The Lane County Medical Society at its last meeting of the Executive Council adopted the following two positions: 1. There is great animosity between the MT's and MSI. Negoti- ations have broken down. The Medical Society deplores any reduc- tion of necessary emergency services. They are concerned about the quantity and quality of reduction of personnel in the immediate future and request that both parties resume negotiations to preserve good pre-hospital patient care in this community. 2. There have been many unsubstantiated complaints regarding the quality of care both from the Medical Society and outside of it regarding overuse and inappropriate care by MSI. These concerns have not been addressed by the Medical Society because they have not been contracted to do so, but they stand ready to study this issue at the council IS request. They feel the City Council should not only look at the rates and costs but also examine alternatives. e 5/27/80--7