Talk of the Town - Whitley County

(Talk of the Town photo by Jennifer Zartman Romano) Whitley County Council and Commissioners met jointly Thursday to hash out concerns about EMS service in Whitley County, voting for Parkview to manage the program for the next five years. Seated clockwise around the table, above, were Commissioner Don Amber, Commissioner George Schrumpf, Councilman John Barrett, Councilman Jim Bayman, Councilman Glen Larue, Councilman Tom Western, Councilman Bill Overdeer and Councilwoman Paula Reimers. Commissioner Tom Rethlake and Councilman Kim Wheeler were present, but not shown above.

By Jennifer Zartman Romano

Whitley County Commissioners and Council members met Thursday to discuss and finalize a vote on the matter of EMS service for the county over the next five years.
On the table: a proposal to continue allowing Parkview Whitley Hospital to continue managing the EMS service to the county for five years and a proposal that would put ownership and management of the program into the county's hands entirely.
"We're looking at this primarily as a money issue -- but I think we need to look at it as a monetary and a quality issue," said Commissioner George Schrumpf. "We'd be remiss as a county if we didn't look at the quality even more so."
Schrumpf said he felt the county could do better to monitor the quality of EMS service, response times and the employees. "We need to provide oversight to this system and not just turn it over to Parkview," Schrumpf said. "There are issues we need to address."
In considering the current agreement with Parkview, councilman Jim Bayman described it as a "runaway train."
"My biggest fear is complacency with the hospital," Bayman said. "It's like 'you need us and here they come with a bill.' I favor taking it over to run ourselves. I think we can run it."
Amber further explained how the county-run system would work, telling fellow Commissioners and Council members that by his estimations, it would cost the county roughly $252,000 per year to operate it's own EMS program. Amber knows the ins and outs of EMS service better than anyone -- he's been involved in Whitley County's EMS service since 1984. Amber served the program as a director for many years when the county did own the program entirely and has been involved for many years as they've paid Parkview to manage the program. He reiterated that he would not be involved in the management of the program whether it was county-managed or Parkview-managed. "I will help in any way with my expertise, but this is not Don Amber's program," he said.
A sticking point for Council member Paula Reimers involved the human resource elements of bringing employees from the Parkview wages and benefits over to what would be manageable for the county to fun -- and what problems could arise from pay inconsistencies between the would-be new paramedic and EMT wages versus pay scales for existing departments such as the Sheriff's Department.
A concern addressed by Councilman Tom Western involved proposed coverage areas. He said he felt that if Whitley County owned the program, they should not be providing EMS service in Allen, Noble, Kosciusko or other surrounding counties -- counties that currently do occasionally receive service from ambulances dispatched out of Whitley County. Amber was in strong disagreement with Western, saying that a patient's need for ambulance service that is adjacent to them should trump county lines in emergency situations.
"I don't agree with cutting expenses at the expense of patients," Amber said.
Discussion among Council and Commissioners continued for over an hour and then citizens in attendance were given an opportunity to speak.
"I'm very encouraged by the discussion you are having," said resident Charles Addison. "I think quite a bit like Don Amber does. The one concern I have is accountability. Parkview's track record hasn't been too good."
Resident Jerry Walker asked about an oversight committee that once existed as a sort of watchdog for county interests and community interests with regard to the EMS program as it was being managed by Parkview. He was told that an oversight committee existed, but that it was not the same one that existed years ago. The current one is made up of Bill Overdeer, RD Schrader, Duane Ginder, Scott Gabriel and Tom Rethlake.
"I'm sitting here as a taxpayer saying, 'This is the oversight committee of the future?' I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that," Walker said. "It's political."
Walker said he'd like to see a different oversight committee formed that might look more directly at quality issues and that might be more representative of the citizens of Whitley County. Such a committee might be comprised of three county government officials, one citizen and one hospital representative.
In considering all of what was said and each of the proposals, Walker added, "I'd hate to think I'd have to call Whitley County Transit to get to Parkview one day."
"I appreciate you taking Parkview to task for changes you're being billed for," said resident Sandy Ferrell. Ferrell reminded the Commissioners and Council that prior to Parkview's involvement in local EMS service, the Whitley County EMS program was among the best programs in the state.
"No matter what system we use (county-managed or Parkview-managed), it's gonna cost Whitley County taxpayers," said Councilman Bill Overdeer.
Looking at each elected official around the table, Amber said, "Nearly everyone up here in their campaign talked about EMS funding and how to get it under control."
Council president Kim Wheeler thanked each Commissioner and Council member for offering their input into the decision. Saying he'd personally wrestled with the issues involved over the past couple of weeks, Wheeler added, "I can't feel like we need to break away from Parkview right now." He said he'd was in favor of signing on for the next five years, but saw merit in working toward a county-managed system in the future -- but taking time to do it carefully.
The Commissioners then voted in favor of continuing to have Parkview manage the EMS program for the county at a cost of $1.5 million ($300,000 annually for five years). Commissioners Tom Rethlake and Kim Wheeler voted in favor of the measure, while Don Amber voted against it.
County Council, upon consideration of the Commissioners' decision, then voted on funding of the EMS program via Parkview -- agreeing to pay $1.5 million in installments of $300,000 per year and agreeing to the partial funding of one new EMS vehicle. Council added the caveat that any agreement with Parkview would also address quality, legal liability for the county and transport issues.
County Council members voting in favor of funding the program managed by Parkview included Paula Reimers, Kim Wheeler, Glen Larue, Bill Overdeer and Tom Western. Voting against the measure was Jim Bayman and John Barrett.