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EBCH “regrouping,” Ely ambulance presses forward on its own
A much-ballyhooed proposal to realign ambulance service and operations in the area appears to have died a quiet death.
After first indicating a “pause” in discussions with local governments and the Ely Area Ambulance Service in December, Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital is no longer pursuing a plan that would have called for it to take ownership of ambulance operations in Ely, Babbitt and Tower.
“We are regrouping,” said Patti Banks, CEO at the Ely hospital.
Banks, during brief remarks at Tuesday’s local ambulance joint powers board meeting (see related story) conceded that resistance from Ely’s ambulance operation played a part in the decisions.
“Ely Ambulance did not want to participate in a system approach,” said Banks.
Little had transpired since an Oct. 18 meeting, where representatives of local governments and EBCH expressed interest in forming a task force to look further at the recommendation made by SafeTech Solutions, a firm engaged by the hospital to study local ambulance issues.
Joe Baltich, who chairs the EAAS board, told area officials last month that the local ambulance service’s financial status had greatly improved and that EAAS intended to maintain its operations.
At the joint powers meeting, Baltich also said it was ill-advised for EAAS to give up ownership to the hospital.
“We have a hospital that has a number of issues in it, if there’s ever a time not to combine, it’s right now,” said Balitch. “We don’t deliver babies. A lot of things continue to leave Ely.”
Baltich also pointed to television news reports the night before, which inferred EBCH would be at risk of closing if it did not retain critical access hospital status.
“Last night they said they could close,” said Baltich. “If we have an ambulance service, at least we can get our people to Virginia.”
Banks asked for time to “counter” and announced that the federal government just hours earlier had granted EBCH’s appeal to remain a critical access hospital.
“That’s why I was late coming to this meeting,” said Banks, citing discussions with both state and federal lawmakers on the critical access issue.
EBCH’s designation as a critical access hospital was key to the recommendation offered by SafeTech.
The consultants said EBCH could gain higher federal reimbursements if it owned the ambulance service, and their plan called for full-time, round-the-clock service in all three communities, with staff members employed by the hospital.
The new model also came with much higher costs, and the next phase of talks was expected to include more detailed estimates - including the amount of subsidy that may be sought by way of tax dollars from area communities.
Baltich said EAAS is committed to improving service, including efforts to complete more or all of the roughly 11 percent of transports from EBCH that it currently does not complete, according to the SafeTech study.
“We’re very much willing to improve on that,” said Baltich.
The ambulance issue has come into focus the last two years, particularly when EAAS ran into financial distress and needed infusions of cash from local governments to stay afloat.
Action by the state legislature in 2024 will pump an additional $290,000 into the EAAS coffers, and Baltich indicated that many billing issues have also a big problem.
