Ely ambulance study set to begin

A public forum set for this weekend will launch a comprehensive look at the Ely area’s ambulance service.Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital is convening a task force to address ambulance service issues and make long-term recommendations on staffing, ownership and operations.Their first meeting is set for 9 a.m. Saturday at the Grand Ely Lodge.Hospital officials, local physicians, medical staff and government leaders are expected to attend, and the general public is invited to participate.Saturday’s meeting, scheduled to run until 3 p.m., is the opening step in a process that could take much of the year.Thanks to a $32,980 award from the Minnesota Department of Health, EBCH lined up monies to fund the study and engage consultants, accountants and attorneys.The first meeting will be facilitated by Patty McCullough, founder of Health Planning and Management Resources and a 30-year consultant for health and social service organizations.She’ll guide the group, which will also include guests from other northern Minnesota hospitals and ambulance services through discussions that cover how other areas operate ambulance services, as well as workforce and demographic issues, Medicare funding and barriers and a review of the current governance structure.The task force is the result of pressures by EBCH - which owns and operates the local ambulance services - to explore other options.Citing consistent losses in its ambulance operations, including a reported deficit of over $50,000 in 2003, hospital officials have pushed for changes to the current model, in which local governments pay a per capita rate for service.Local governments have agreed to look at other options, with the cities of Ely and Winton along with Morse and Fall Lake townships forming a joint powers group with EBCH.The hospital agreed to continue the ambulance service for a year while the parties worked in good faith to study the alternatives.“This gives us some resources to thoroughly and professionally study the issue,” said Morse Supervisor Jack Willis. “Who knows what may come out of it? I know that everybody involved has committed to study other options and to look at the long-term viability of the ambulance.”John Fossum, administrator at EBCH, has said previously that he couldn’t envision a scenario where the hospital completely abandoned ambulance service.And fears that Ely may have to rely solely on a volunteer service aren’t warranted, local leaders say.Ely averages one ambulance run per day, a case load that may be too much for a volunteer group to handle. Neighboring Babbitt, which relies on volunteers, has about 100 runs per year.But the group will look at alternatives to the current model.Of more than 170 rural Minnesota ambulance operations, only 18 are operated by hospitals and the remainder are primarily owned by municipalities, counties or non-profit joint powers entities.In Minnesota, few communities the size of Ely maintain a full-time, professional operation, and previous studies have shown that the cost of an Ely ambulance run is more than double the statewide norm, largely because Ely always has two emergency medical technicians on duty.The EMTs work as orderlies in the hospital when not on ambulance runs, but all down time and benefit costs must be charged against the ambulance budget, driving up total cost of the service and contributing to the losses.Changes in Medicare payments for ambulance service have also reduced revenues and increased operating losses.Plans call for the task force to complete a full study of staffing, finance and ownership issues.The task force would then hear preliminary recommendations and begin developing governance and finance alternatives.Findings will be published in local newspapers, public meetings will be held to gather local input and by next fall final recommendations will be forwarded both to the EBCH board as well as elected bodies in Ely, Winton, Morse and Fall Lake.