Brooke McAfee
The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
(TNS)
Clark County officials are responding to concerns about New Chapel EMS’ staffing and response times.
Last month, the Clarksville Town Council sent a letter to the Clark County Commissioners calling for the “declaration of a health emergency.”
The letter, dated June 7, was signed by six out of the seven town council members. It describes concerns about New Chapel, the county’s EMS contractor.
“We are deeply concerned about the provision of ambulance services in Clark County, especially the ability to provide proper ambulance service in the Town of Clarksville,” the letter states. “The latest news of mass employee walkouts at New Chapel EMS and the decline of their abilities has heightened our concerns.”
The Floyd County Commissioners and New Albany Township Fire Board recently ended their contracts with New Chapel Fire.
On May 31, 10 New Chapel staff members resigned to join the newly formed New Albany Township Fire & Rescue.
New Chapel is facing scrutiny as its co-founder, former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel, is charged with 31 felonies.
Noel is accused of spending millions of dollars for personal use through Utica Township Volunteer Fire Fighters Association/New Chapel EMS.
S. Coy Travis, spokesperson for New Chapel EMS, said in an emailed response that the agency has responded to more than 10,000 calls this year, and more than 98% of those “have had no noted concerns.”
He said New Chapel has “not received any official inquiries from the Clarksville Town Council requesting information about EMS coverage to identify the cause of their concerns.”
New Chapel continues to seek new staff, Travis said.
“We have hired several new staff members in the last month while also having some others leave,” he said. “We encourage anyone who is interested in EMS or paramedic employment opportunities to visit our Facebook page to learn how to apply for our open positions.”
Clark County Attorney R. Scott Lewis said in an emailed response that although the Clarksville Town Council letter was dated June 7, the envelope it was mailed in was post-marked on June 20 and the letter was received in the last week of June.
He noted that the specific situation described in the letter happened on June 1. He emphasized that Clark County Health Officer Eric Yazel has already addressed those concerns in a June 5 public statement and at a June 6 commissioners meeting.
Lewis said a health emergency would need to be declared by the county health officer and county board of health rather than the commissioners.
He said the Clark County Health Department advised the commissioners that the “current EMS situation does not warrant the declaration of a health emergency.”
The health department also stated that if a health emergency was declared, there “would be no benefit because no federal or state funds would be provided for this type of situation,” Lewis said.
MONITORING THE SITUATION
Clark County Health Officer Dr. Eric Yazel said while New Chapel has “stabilized to some degree,” concerns still remain about staffing and response times.
The health department continues to closely monitor the EMS situation.
He said June 1 was the “closest we’ve gotten to declaring an emergency,” but it would “be more of a symbolic gesture” that he does not believe is needed right now.
He said the Clarksville Town Council letter was “timely back in June,” but he feels the situation has improved.
“[New Chapel has] actually cut their response times about a minute in the last month and things like that,” Yazel said.
He said the health department stayed in “constant communication” with the 911 dispatch center to check on the situation.
Staffing is still a concern, he said.
“And I also worry that the staff that they do have are working very heavily, so I don’t know how sustainable some of the staffing levels are,” Yazel said.
“I think people are going to tire out eventually, and I don’t know, but I worry that they’re going to be able to bring on enough new help to start alleviating that because it’s a tough market EMS-wise out there.”
Contingency plans were already in place for EMS coverage, but they have been strengthened as issues with New Chapel staffing came up.
“We kind of concreted those up a little bit and reached out and made some plans in case there was a more immediate interruption in operations,” Yazel said.
He said the health department monitors response times in several ways. He prefers to look at jot forms, which are completed when there is a delay in care.
“The jot forms sort of wax and wane,” he said. “We have five or six days where [New Chapel had] none, and then we get five or six in a day,” he said.
He contacts New Chapel if there is a “run” of jot forms, he said.
“I’ll reach out to New Chapel and say, you know what, what happened here, and what’s your plan to fix it, and they’ve been responsive to that,” Yazel said.
The health department also looks at a composite monthly view of the issue, including the average response time in every municipality.
For the month of June, the average response time was down by a minute and 15 seconds compared to May, Yazel said.
“So that one looks stable, but that’s a little bit of fool’s gold sometimes in that it’s not the best way to monitor overall quality and response times and things like that.”
The top priority is to “give citizens the best coverage that we can right now,” Yazel said.
“We’re working with New Chapel and monitoring their quality of things and helping those other services flex up to make sure we have a stable, safe situation right now.”
EXPLORING OTHER OPTIONS
In the letter to the commissioners, Clarksville Town Council mentioned the town’s exploration into forming its own EMS service.
The town council has not taken any action on the matter.
“We expect Clark County to reimburse us for such services,” the letter states. “We cannot pay for a service which we are not receiving.”
The letter noted that Clarksville and other municipalities in the county have “contributed financially to the cost” of EMS service.
In Lewis’ statement, he noted that the county’s contract for ambulance services is paid for through a local income tax for EMS.
“The tax distribution for emergency medical services is received by the County directly from the State of Indiana,” he said. “The County does not receive any payments from the Town of Clarksville or from any other municipality in Clark County for the provision of emergency medical services.”
Clarksville Communications Director Ken Conklin cited Clerk-Treasurer A.D. Stonecipher in a Wednesday email to media. He said Clark County 911 charges the Town of Clarksville 33% of its annual budget, which includes EMS. The 2025 bill will be more than $1.1 million.
Clarksville Fire Chief Brandon Skaggs presented the estimated costs of its ambulance service proposal at a recent meeting. According to the presentation, EMS staffing for three trucks is projected to cost $2.3 million and staffing for two trucks would cost $1.7 million.
In June, the City of Jeffersonville announced plans to study the feasibility of establishing its own EMS service.
Tri-Township Fire & Rescue recently began offering ambulance services in its district. Its service area includes Carr, Union and Silver Creek townships, along with Sellersburg and the north portion of Clarksville.
New Chapel’s contract with Clark County lasts through the end of 2025.
NEW TECHNOLOGY
New Chapel is investing $80,000 in new equipment to “better the experience for their providers and provide accountability to the community,” according to a July 4 news release from the EMS provider.
The equipment will be used for patient care reporting and automatic vehicle location.
“This is a major step forward for us to show the community that we are serious about changing the way this organization works to serve,” New Chapel President and CEO Matt Owen said in the news release. “With the installation of this new equipment, we will have inter-operability to partner with our local 911 center to give them real-time GPS tracking of ambulances in Clark County.”
The investment will be paid completely by New Chapel, and the technology is expected to be implemented before the end of the summer, according to the news release.
Yazel said this equipment will “help a great deal.”
“So that way, at any given time, I can just pull and say, hey, how many units do they have out running and where are those units located?” he said.
“So if we do see a coverage deficiency, we can help reach out and say, hey, you need to shift someone up to Sellersburg or out to Utica or whatever.”
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