CC Minutes - 01/27/09 Joint Elected Officials

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trend. SHMC was challenged by approximately $66 million annually of charity bad debt. Additionally, the increased number of surgery centers in the area shifted patients with the ability to pay for services out of the hospital. Peace Health provided a majority of the behavioral health services for the region which were threatened by inadequate funding. Scott Olmos, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) local 851, representing Eugene and Lane Rural firefighters, welcomed elected officials to the summit and thanked Mayor Piercy, Councilor Ortiz and Chief Groves for recognizing the gravity of the situation. He represented a highly trained professional work group of Eugene firefighters and paramedics who responded to thousands of calls annually. Many citizens who had inadequate or no health care relied on EMS transport as their first line of health care. Capacity and workloads were at an unmanageable level for all firefighters and paramedics whom he represented, and had been for too long. Many patients had the means to pay for ambulance transport service and the once adequate source of funding could no longer sustain EMS in the Eugene area. The City, the union and the stakeholders had previously met to discuss the situation, and the union had determined there was only one viable alternative to solve the EMS crisis in Eugene. EMS must be designated as a core essential service. EMS transport must no longer be funded from an enterprise fund. The current system did not differentiate between various types of calls. Highly trained paramedics who responded to life threatening injuries and illnesses were also dispatched to inter-facility and non-emergency medical calls for which the department no longer had the capacity. The City of Eugene deserved an ambulance transport system to focus on life threatening emergencies. The current practice of sending City of Eugene paramedics well into the county was no longer a sustainable practice. Public safety was not and should not be in the business of making money and saving lives and was not an enterprise. He urged adoption of the following: ? Designation by the City Council of ambulance transport as an essential service funded appropriate- ly. ? Eugene Fire Department paramedics must continue to provide first response advance life support services and advanced life support transport. ? The City must expand its contract with private providers to include non-emergency, BLS support transportation and inter-facility transports. ? The City must immediately discontinue dispatching Eugene paramedics outside of the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB). Kevin Grey, IAFF local 1395, representing Springfield firefighters, welcomed everyone in attendance. The impacts of the decisions that came out of this forum would last for many years. He believed Springfield provided the highest quality of care on the streets which could not be matched by any other service provider. Capacity issues had been addressed by Chief Murphy and the Springfield City Council. Ambulances on the street had increased since 2003 to meet the community’s demand. There was an economic climate as well as the Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement issue that needed to be faced by everyone. Currently, Springfield had the capacity to handle the call volume and was not as stressed with the workload issue as Eugene. Springfield currently operated the best system possible with the dollars spent and any reductions would be detrimental to patient care. He looked forward to a positive outcome from the forum and did not want to see any drastic changes to the system. Susie Robinson, representing Oregon State Ambulance Association, provided a PowerPoint presentation that highlighted the funding challenges association members faced and the medical fee schedule. Changes MINUTES—Joint Elected Officials— January 27, 2009 Page 6 Lane Board of County Commissioners, Lane Rural Fire/Rescue Board of Directors and Eu- gene and Springfield City Councils