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Commissioners approve updated EMS agreement with Baylor Scott & White and hear detailed EMS quarterly report
Summary
The court authorized an updated memorandum with Baylor Scott & White to change EMS blood product supply from packed red blood cells to plasma, and accepted a comprehensive EMS quarterly report covering calls, response times, air transports, fleet efficiency, staffing, and revenue/write-offs.
The Washington County Commissioner's Court voted to authorize the county judge to execute an updated memorandum of agreement with Baylor Scott and White Medical Center — College Station to replace the March 19, 2019 agreement. Mr. Leonard told the court the primary change in the updated agreement is the product supplied: "we're changing it to plasma," and the damage/repayment fee for damaged products will change from the prior $200 to approximately $57.
Taylor, the county EMS presenter, then delivered the quarterly EMS report. He told commissioners the department is redefining how it counts "calls for service" (separating unit responses from unique calls) and expects reported counts to decline under the new definition even though response activity is steady. Key operational points included: a roughly 71%/29% split in call origin between city and county; a staffing-driven improvement in on-scene times as a fifth staffed truck reduces response delays; and 102 aviation flights handled in the quarter.
Taylor described revenue and write-offs for air transports, noting county residents do not receive a patient bill for air service and that air-billing write-offs are substantial. "The patient does not get a bill if they're a county resident for our air service," he said, explaining write-offs result from county policy to not bill residents directly and from uncollectible air-billing accounts receivable. The report also highlighted fuel savings from idle-mitigation technology on hybrid ambulances and that the aviation in-service time remained high (~95%), with backup aircraft covering scheduled maintenance.
Commissioners asked about paramedic pay and recruitment; Taylor said the county's paramedic pay is competitive in the region and that the service is at full baseline staffing (excluding 'plus one/plus two' relief posts). The court approved the EMS quarterly report by voice vote.
The court also approved the Baylor Scott & White agreement by motion and voice vote; text of the agreement and finer procurement details were not read into the record during the meeting.
