After furloughing its paid staff in mid-April, Jeb Stuart Rescue Squad is considering the future and weighing all of its options.
“We’re not trying to make a rush decision,” President Derek Wagner said of the squad that is dealing with a $40,000 to $50,000 shortfall.
In January, the squad “requested $100,000 per year from the county, or $25,00 per quarter to help offset operational costs.”
“As closed session discussions have now been publicly disclosed by JEB Stuart Rescue Squad Captain and newly elected President Derek Wagner, Patrick County has been in discussions and offered multiple solutions to JEB Stuart Rescue Squad in response to their financial issues,” County Administrator Beth Simms said in a release.
Wagner “and other JEB Stuart board members advised Patrick County that they would not be operational after June 1,” Simms wrote, and added the county “remains open to conversations with JEB Stuart Rescue Squad’s leadership on funding solutions to keep emergency services personnel operating out of the JEB Stuart Rescue Squad facility,” she said.
Currently, the squad is looking at the cons and pros of options that include “coming under the county,” or meeting with an attorney that specializes in nonprofit agencies to figure out where it stands and potential actions/outcomes Wagner said,
“That’s just like going under the county, what all does that entail,” he asked. The potential loss of control of the building is a concern, and details have been slow to materialize.
At a meeting with county officials, Wagner said it is his understanding that if the squad came under the county, it would do away with its EMS agency number and its building would go under the county.
A paid truck (from Station 8) would be moved “to our building. They said they needed sleeping quarters, a day room, and stuff like that, and they would operate a paid crew out of our building.
When we asked would the entire EMS Office (across from Subway) be moved to our building,” Wagner said squad representatives were told the logistics had not yet been worked out.
The county would take over billing and other financial operations of the squad, and the county also would collect payments from patients, Wagner said.
It is also his understanding that the squad would maintain its nonprofit status and co-exist with the county, but “we don’t know if we would still keep our offices. Like where would we operate our 501©3? The basement of my house,” he asked. “It’s hard to figure out what you can do and what you can’t do. If they’re wanting us to keep our non-profit and our stuff from there, well, what’s the point in it.”
The squad has been told “‘you can still have your breakfasts,’” and other fundraising events, Joanne Spangler, treasurer, said. “Okay, you collect that money from that, but what are you going to spend that money on because you no longer have a squad?”
If all of the squad’s assets are county-owned, why would the agency need to raise money, Wagner said is another concern.
Spangler said the squad’s paid service predated the county’s “because the county was sitting there twiddling their thumbs, and they didn’t know what to do. So, the hospital shut down, and we started paid service at our station trying to pick up everything that we can and help the county out when they needed it.
“But now that we need it, it seems like they’re not willing to help us,” she said, adding the squad doesn’t see the county’s options as being for the benefit of the squad.
The squad’s revenues last year totaled $446,060.23, while its expenses were $439,046.83, plus unpaid current bills.
Wagner said the squad got into financial straits because of general operating costs, such as maintaining ambulances, and the increasing costs of fuel and supplies.
“We spent $33,000 on fuel alone last year,” Wagner said. The squad also responded to more calls than other squads, including the backup service, Station 8, funded by the county.
In comparison, the nonprofit squad that ran the second-highest number of calls spent around $4,000 for fuel, Spangler said.
Another “thing that’s really got us now is the Medicare/Medicaid issue with their billing where they had the ransomware or breach in their system or whatever,” she said. “When I talked to our billing agency, they said they were having to do everything manually,” which means it takes longer to get paid for services.
“Everybody’s having that issue,” Spangler said.
Even when payment is received, Wagner said Medicaid pays anywhere from 20 to 30 percent of a bill. About 75-80 percent of the calls the squad responds to are from Medicaid clients.
Spangler estimates the squad, which soft bills, has been paid for three or four calls. While she didn’t have the total number of the outstanding calls it is owed for, it’s “a lot of calls.”
With its soft billing, Wagner said the squad sends the bill to collections but “that’s as far as we take it. We do send them to collections because we don’t want them to forget about their bill. Hopefully, we’re encouraging them to reach out and talk to us about the bill.”
However, “We do not do court orders, garnish wages, or any of that. We don’t do anything. After collections, it goes no further,” he said.
In the past, each squad has received an annual allocation of $16,075 from the county. Squads must file an annual audit with the county.
Simms said the county’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year includes a 50 percent increase of funding for volunteer fire departments and a 31 percent increase for volunteer rescue squads.
Wagner said the squad has received a few donations since announcing it requested additional funds from the county, but is still facing a shortfall.
Wagner said patient care is the top priority. However, the business part of it also is important.
“It is a business,” Wagner said. “You can’t go over to” a doctor’s “office and get your blood pressure checked for free. You can’t go to an urgent care and be seen for free. You can’t go to the emergency room, doctors’ office, or anything like that” and be seen for free.
“I don’t understand why everybody thinks EMS has to be the only one that soft bills,” he said, and added that he expects the squad will reach a decision sometime in May.
