By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
In his February report to the Carter County EMS Board, ambulance service director Rick Loperfido expressed concerns that a King’s Daughter’s Medical Center (KDMC) plan to place two ambulances at the Urgent Care facility in Grayson could prove detrimental to the county’s service, and have a negative impact on emergency coverage across the county.
Loperfido told the board that his focus over the past month has been on defending the ambulance service against the inevitable losses in finance he believes they will face if the KDMC certificate of need (CON) is approved and a license is granted by Frankfort.
“If this CON application is approved,” Loperfido wrote in his report, it could cost the Carter County Emergency Ambulance Service, “up to $350,000 in lost revenue annually,” from a loss of “up to an estimated 600 runs per year.”
These runs would be the sort that generate income for the ambulance service through insurance and Medicaid reimbursement. But while they would be losing these types of transports to a new KDMC service – if the CON is approved – they would still be required to respond to any emergency call. Even those that do not pay. As an institution funded, in part, through public tax dollars they are required to respond to those emergency calls regardless of an ability to pay. This, Loperfido explained, is why it’s so important that they not lose the few revenue streams they have.
Though Loperfido said there were currently no plans to remove any ambulances from service if KDMC’s CON was approved, the move comes at a time when unpaid calls continue to stress the ambulance service’s budget.
“We are still seeing numerous calls to respond for individuals requiring lift assistance only,” Loperfido wrote in another section of his report. These people, he explained, were folks who didn’t need transport to the hospital, but who had fallen and couldn’t get back up on their own.
They’re also seeing a continual rise in “refusals from being transported, after (patients have) their vital signs checked by our crews,” he said, which are also calls where they have no one to bill.
Loperfido also noted an “increased volume in our response to COVID related responses.”
Loperfido said the services COVID symptom related calls increased, “about five percent last month, from the previous month of December.”
Carter County remains in the “red zone” with more than 62 cases per 100,000 people; nearly double the statewide rate of just over 35, but still well below neighboring Lawrence County, which ranks among the top ten for infection rates with 83 cases per 100,000 according to data from the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
In other action, Loperfido gave updates on vehicle repairs, generator maintenance, and the wait for repairs to the oxygen refill system. He also noted the service passed their annual inspection by KBEMS, with no deficiencies found and all units passing the inspection process.
He also reported on professional development opportunities being provided through a grant from the Kentucky Association of Counties (KACo). That grant, for $2,500, is funding an Emergency Vehicle Operations Class that all employees will be required to attend. The class will be taught on two separate dates to accommodate all employees.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
