Anger, disappointment, worry and confusion were evident by the looks on the faces of the Grenada County Board of Supervisors as they listened intently during last Tuesday morning’s meeting.
With Grenada County entering the middle of its fiscal year and September being the next time a budget will be set, MedStat unloaded a potential financial burden on the Board as the emergency medical service gave them until April 1 to have a plan in place for 911 medical services for the county.
“When someone calls 911 and an ambulance is needed, MedStat is dispatched out on the call,” BOS Attorney Jay Gore said. “MedStat has found it financially unfeasible to continue the 911 service without a subsidy. UMMC has told MedStat they are not going to provide that subsidy.”
Now, the nearly $350,000 financial burden falls on the county, according to Gore.
In 2014, the BOS leased the facility known as Grenada Lake Medical Center (GLMC) to the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). The University took over the operations on Jan. 1, 2014, and among the services that was agreed, UMMC would continue as the ambulance service. Now, nine years later, MedStat Emergency Medical Services is over that service and are contracted with UMMC to provides the ambulance service to Grenada County.
According to Gore, there are two parts to MedStat’s ambulance service. Part one of the service deals with UMMC hospital transfers. Once a patient arrives at the Emergency Room dock and must be taken elsewhere, UMMC will have MedStat transfer that patient out. Part two of the service is what Grenada County residents witness daily and is referred to as 911 services.
MedStat EMS operations manager David Eldridge appeared before the Board to work out a plan to keep MedStat in Grenada County.
“You all know why I am here,” Eldridge said. “If we are going to continue to service Grenada County as the 911 service, we need the county to subsidize that service. As of April 1, MedStat will terminate the 911 services unless the Board can come up with a plan that we both can agree on.”
BOS President Michael Lott quickly expressed his concerns.
“We had an agreement with UMMC to supply EMS when we leased that hospital to the university and really, without any notice of any kind, they terminated that,” he said. “All at once, this has been dumped on us, hitting us in the middle of our budget year. We have not budgeted for this and it puts the county in a real financial condition.”
UMMC will continue a contract with MedStat for hospital-related transfers.
With no time to send out other request for proposals, an emergency proposal was presented to the Board by Eldridge.
By partnering with MedStat, Grenada County would receive:
• Two 24-hour ALS (Advanced Life Support) ambulances each staffed with a paramedic and EMT.
• One demand 12-hour unit that will be utilized as a supervisor or Quick Response Vehicle (QRV).
• Access to a regional MedStat QRV for added paramedic support.
• Continued integration with regional air ambulance companies such as Air Evac Lifeteam.
• Constant transparency with custom reports using hundreds of data metrics.
• Community-focused public education and outreach.
• The stability and sustainability of contracting with a trusted Mississippi EMS provider.
The annual subsidy request amount from MedStat totals to $349,800. UMMC-Grenada will not have access to the two ambulances that will be provided for Grenada County 911 service. UMMC will contract with MedStat and pay for its own transfer vehicles.
“We want to be your ambulance,” Eldridge said. “We don’t want to just be a contracted service. Ninety percent of the people that work for MedStat are from Grenada. We are your hometown ambulance.”
With the proposal and contract in hand, the Board will vote on a decision regarding the MedStat EMS 911 service being provided by the county at the next board meeting scheduled for March 6.
“We need you,” District 2 Supervisor Chad Bridges said. “We have got to have you.”
Lott then expressed his disappointment.
“The Board is very disappointed in the leadership of UMMC,” Lott concluded. “This issue is not Grenada’s fault. We understand that it is over their heads. We are disappointed in the leadership in Jackson. They broke their word to us, but at the end of the day, we have a job to do and that is to take care of the citizens in Grenada County.”
An updated story will follow the March 6 meeting with the Supervisors’ decision.
