10/22/1980 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e Ms. Schue stated that she feels the council is between lIa rock and a hard place.1I The firefighters are EMT lis, but heart attack victims require an EMT 3 level. Also, since firefighters are in the business of fighting fires, she feels the service level provided would not be as good. She asked what the council IS obligations are to citizens for emergency medical services. If there were alternatives ready to take over, that would be desirable. She feels, however, that she is compelled to vote for the rate increase. She wants this tied to the monitoring system and wants to hear more later regarding service delivery. Mr. Lieuallen noted that he would vote against the motion for several reasons. Last week, Mr. Morgan stated that ambulance services are in trouble allover the country. Additionally, the management history and inability to get a clear picture of the financial situation concerns him. It seems that a non-profit delivery ~ystem would be best. Mr. Morgan has stated that the council will be faced with another .increase request in six months. Mr. Obie stated that a rate increase was granted earlier this year in the base rate to $80 but the requested increases in other areas were not granted. He feels the council must take some of the responsibility for the conditions at MSI. Perhaps the council should have acted faster and given more encouragement. for MSI to ask for rate increases or had the Touche Ross study finished faster. Unless the council is prepared to increase the City's tax base this should be kept a non-City agency. He feels it should continue as a user-pay system. He does see some encouraging things in the management structure at thi~ time e since Mobilchair is now profitable, they are selling the rental and sales operation, and they are looking at leasing a portion of the building. He feels progress is being made. It is impossible to get the best service at the lowest rates; that just does not happen. The number one reason that businesses fail is because they do not charge enough. When the service is needed, the quality must be good. He hopes that the council and the City can be part of the solution and not part of the problem. Roadblocks must be eliminated so that excellent service can be provided. Ms. Miller stated that if the temporary rate increase is approved, the council is doing no more than buying six months of time. There is a need to look closely at the management organization during this time. It may be questionable to use the same management concept of the consultant that got MSI into problems in the first place. She will go along with buying more time. City staff should continue refining the contingency plans and continue ongoing management review of this company. This is not a free enterprise model and those analogies do not apply. Insurance companies do not seem to be interested in the amount of cost but will just raise their premiums accordingly. No one ever seems to know when rate increases have gone too far. She will go along with the recommendation for the temporary rate increase. She is dubious of the management. If reports indicate the quality of service to be poor, the council will have to stop buying time and move to an alternative. e MINUTES--City Council October 22, 1980 Page 8