Jeannette EMS makes budget cuts to stay open
The director of operations at Jeannette EMS has an important message for the community — the city's ambulance service is not going out of business.
Randy Highlands, who became director of operations at the beginning of this year, said he knows there are many rumors floating around — especially online — that the EMS is either already closed or will be closing soon.
Highlands directly addresses some of the rumors and his intentions for the future of the EMS service in a letter to the editor on Page 2.
While those rumors aren't true, he said, it is important for city residents to know that the EMS station is having some financial issues.
“At the beginning of 2015, I became responsible for the financial and administrative duties and realized that cuts needed to be made and those cuts were pretty much across the board,” he said.
Staffing was reduced by 50 percent, there are now 25 employees. The numbers of vehicles the service runs was also downsized.
“The business isn't there like it used to be,” said Highlands. “Everyone is out for the same piece of pie, to do transfers, and we don't have the same volume of business.”
Transfers are non-emergency inter-facility transports of patients from hospitals to nursing facilities or to rehabilitation centers, etc.
Due to a change in Medicare guidelines, using an ambulance for those transfers can only happen under strict circumstances. Reimbursement is less when a transfer can be done with a van rather than an ambulance.
Also, Highlands said, there are more businesses conducting non-emergency transports.
The Jeannette EMS used to have a contract with Forbes Hospital that enabled the service to conduct all transfers from that facility. That contract expired about five years ago and the hospital chose to open up the transfers to all local EMS services rather than offering a contract. That loss has added up to big revenue losses for Jeannette.
“We used to do 20 transports a day and now we're doing about four or five,” said Highlands. “We were also an exclusive provider to Jeannette Hospital.
“Our primary goal is to provide emergency medical service to people in Jeannette and our primary coverage area, which includes Grapeville and portions of Hempfield Township. But the income went down because of the loss of transports and we have to live within our means. We needed to bring our expenses closer to our revenues.”
Highlands has heard from residents who believed the service may have gone out of business because they saw a Penn Township ambulance on their street or another out-of-town ambulance picking up a neighbor.
But Highlands wants people to understand that all ambulance services have what are known as reciprocity agreements — much like fire departments — with other nearby agencies to ensure full emergency coverage 24-7.
“If Penn Township goes out on a call, for example, they put us and Murrysville on standby (for Penn Township's coverage area), we help each other out. We each honor each other's subscriptions, too; everyone that borders us.
“So, there may be times that people see a different ambulance in town.”
Highlands said that EMS operations in general are suffering with staffing issues. Most services can't afford to pay their employees high salaries, but the schooling required to become an EMT or paramedics can be expensive.
“Back in the 1980s, transfer business was booming and there were a lot more ambulance transports. You could come out of EMT class and get a job right away.”
Highlands said the recent staffing cuts in Jeannette and other budget cuts are the result of not cutting expenditures quickly enough over the past few years to match up with how quickly the income was dwindling.
“We took a big hit when they closed Jeannette Hospital and Monsour. We had two hospitals in our backyard,” said Highlands.
But, in spite of budget cuts and systemic change in the ambulance business itself, Highlands repeats that Jeannette EMS is not closing any time soon.
“People hear a rumor and run with it. A lady stopped by the other day and asked if we were closed. I don't understand it. We're out there and answering calls.”
Jeannette EMS has a Facebook page and is trying to reach out to the community, providing regular updates there.
The bottom line, according to Highlands?
“We're here. Jeannette EMS is here for 10,000 people in this community; We're committed to providing emergency services for as long as humanly possible. We're doing everything we can to keep the doors open.”
The Jeannette EMS subscription drive starts July 1. Information will be mailed out this week. Anyone who doesn't receive that information can call the office at 724-523-5501.
Kristie Linden is an editor for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at klinden@tribweb.com or 724-838-5154.
