Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Ems topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Portage council hears rising ambulance calls, billing and staffing update from fire chief
Summary
Fire Chief Troy told the Portage City Common Council that ambulance calls have increased to about 380 year-to-date, nearly nine runs per day, and outlined collection and staffing status as the city transitions EMS service.
The Portage City Common Council on Jan. 23 was briefed by Fire Chief Troy on emergency medical service activity, staffing and billing after the city changed ambulance providers.
Chief Troy told the council the department has handled about 380 calls so far this year and is “running just short of 9 a day,” up from about six or seven per day under the previous provider, Aspirus. He said crews have been busy and the department has conducted multiple debriefings after difficult calls: “We've had 380 calls so far. It's a little bit more than we had talked about.”
Alderperson Green praised the department and asked how often three ambulances are out at once. Troy said three ambulances are out multiple times per week and the department has had occasions with four or five in service simultaneously. He said the department has a chase vehicle and that crew members sometimes respond from home when needed.
On mutual aid, Troy said the city has rarely requested outside transport units: the council was told that Portage requested mutual aid once for a major highway crash and had one or two other limited calls for outside assistance. Troy said when outside services did not respond on one or two occasions, Portage adjusted who it calls for backup.
On billing and collections, Troy said staff are reviewing ambulance runs before forwarding them to the billing vendor. He told council that “Cody's reviewing all the runs to make sure that we're hitting all the points we need to hit so we could collect,” and that the city has about 215 runs outstanding and about 90 that the billing company has sent to collections. He said the vendor forecasts money to start returning in roughly 60 days, with an expectation collections could appear by April.
Councilors asked about staffing and Medicare inspections. Troy said the department has been fully staffed “since the beginning,” and that Medicare performed surprise visits, photographing ambulances, station facilities and rosters as part of verification; he said those reviews are underway and the department is completing follow-up items.
Why it matters: the increase in call volume, the billing pipeline and the department’s staffing and mutual-aid posture affect operational capacity and city finances as Portage settles into a new EMS service arrangement.
