St. Croix EMS needs more money

Talk about it

A special joint meeting of the St. Croix Emergency Medical Services Commission and the Hudson City Council was held Monday night to discuss the future of the ambulance service.

The organizational structure of the service and its financial challenges topped the agenda of the 45-minute meeting, held just before a regular City Council meeting.

The commission and City Council members also went into a short closed session to discuss a lawsuit filed by LifeQuest, the company that used to handle St. Croix EMS’s billing and collections.

Ongoing financial difficulty, although improved from past years, appeared to be the main reason for the meeting.

City Finance Officer Betty Caruso reported that the EMS operated at a loss in 2006 through 2008, finishing the period with a cash shortfall $120,000.

After switching to a different billing and collection company, and undertaking cost-costing measures, the service completed 2009 in the black, Caruso said.

But its financial situation hasn’t improved enough to pay back money taken from an equipment fund that was used to cover operations. And the service isn’t setting aside money for future equipment needs, Caruso reported.

“If you’re not putting money away (for ambulance and other equipment purchases), you’re not really doing OK,” Mayor Dean Knudson commented.

Caruso recommended setting aside $90,000 in operating income from 2009 to cover variations in cash flow and contingencies. Any remaining profit from 2009 should be used to replenish the equipment fund, she said.

EMS commissioners Tim Foster, the chairperson, Lori Bernard, George Klein, Ray Knapp and Deborah Brisch-Cramer agreed to discuss the recommendation further at a March 9 meeting.

St. Croix EMS’s organizational structure will also be discussed at that meeting.

Knudson said Monday night that St. Croix EMS hasn’t been operating in accordance with its bylaws for some time.

The City Council is supposed to approve the service’s budget and compensation for personnel, the mayor said, but that hasn’t happened for many years.

“My recommendation is that we ought to consider all options,” Knudson said regarding the EMS organizational structure.

He began his remarks by saying he thought St. Croix EMS provides excellent service.

Ray Knapp, the Troy Town Board chair, agreed with Knudson’s assessment of the quality of service St. Croix EMS delivers.

He added that its expenses increased when it started providing paramedic-level service a few years ago. The commission, which holds regular quarterly meetings, may no longer be the right body to oversee day-to-day operations of the service, he said.

Tim Foster, a member of the Hudson Town Board, agreed.

“We’ve grown to a different level,” he said.

Later in the meeting, Foster said St. Croix EMS, funded by patient fees and a $12.50-per-capita annual payment from the municipalities it serves, is still one of the most efficiently operated ambulance services in Wisconsin.

It serves the city of Hudson, town of Hudson, village of North Hudson and northern half of the town of Troy. Its ambulances are based at the city’s Public Safety Building on Walnut Street across from City Hall.

The Hudson Fire Department is also located in the building.

Lori Bernard, the city’s representative on the EMS commission, and George Klein, a commissioner and North Hudson village president, suggested increasing Hudson Hospital & Clinics stake in the ambulance service.

Klein said he didn’t want the responsibility of overseeing the day-to-day operations of St. Croix EMS.

“Maybe we should have the hospital manage the service,” he said.

Bernard encouraged the commission to explore a closer partnership with the hospital.

“We need revenue, not land so much,” Bernard said in response to an earlier comment by the hospital’s representative on the EMS commission.

Deborah Brisch-Cramer had noted that the hospital purchased additional land a few months ago and is looking to expand its services.

But Brisch-Cramer said the hospital isn’t interested in owning or operating the ambulance service.

She said St. Croix EMS is important to the hospital, and that it wants to help keep the ambulance service “sustainable and viable.”

Hudson City Council member Scot O’Malley suggested that the commission consider increasing the per capita subsidy charged to the municipalities served by St. Croix EMS.

St. Croix EMS Chief Eric Christensen was out of town and unable to attend Monday night’s meeting.

Knudson said he wasn’t aware that Christensen would be unable to attend the meeting when he scheduled it.

LifeQuest sued the city after it terminated the company’s contract to do St. Croix EMS’s billing and collection work. The company claims that the city didn’t provide enough notice that it was ending the agreement. The city disputes the claim.

Tags: local news, news, hudson, health