Up Front: The North Fork Ambulance Association Asks You to Help Erase $193,000 Deficit

Up Front: The North Fork Ambulance Association Asks You

to Help Erase $193,000 Deficit

By Thomas Wills

North Fork Ambulance Association is a non-governmental, IRS 501 (C) (3) non-profit run by dues paying members with a board of directors and staffed mostly with volunteers. According to executive director, Kathy Steckel of Crawford, who spoke to the Hotchkiss Community Chamber of Commerce in late August, the annual membership of the NFAA is currently about 1,800, including families and businesses. This comes to about a quarter of the population of the service area. The association is currently making a concerted effort to raise this number to a much higher percentage of the residents of the North Fork. If you have received a solicitation, as a business and individual, for membership from the NFAA you are strongly encouraged to return it with your annual membership contribution. Increasing membership numbers is a critical part of the current plan to overcome a current budget deficit (projected to be $193,000 in 2015) and get the service onto a firm, sustainable footing. The NFAA has about $750,000 in reserves, but much of this will be needed to future capital costs such as replacing vehicles and equipment when necessary.

As has been widely reported in local media, the NFAA is currently facing serious challenges. The first is one that has been ongoing to different degrees during the entire history of the organization; keeping staffed with enough volunteers, including trained emergency medical technicians (EMTs), drivers and other support personnel. There is always a need for volunteers and currently, according to Steckel, the need is especially acute in the Crawford area. Ideally there should be enough trained volunteers so that the day to day requirements on individuals are kept at a level so as to not overburden anyone and result in volunteer burnout.

If you are interested in becoming a CPR certified driver or a State Certified EMT you can begin by contacting the Station Captain in your community. They are: Crawford – Adam Clifford (970)270-5532; Hotchkiss – Deb Leger (970) 261-6531; Paonia – Steve Simpson, (970) 778-7325.

There are also current opportunities to get involved as a non-emergency volunteer helping with fundraising, envelope stuffing, putting up posters, getting info out to the community, website help, and lots more things behind the scenes, in community outreach or professional assistance. If you can help on this level please contact Community Outreach Coordinator Dawnette Simpson at network@northforkambulance.com or call (970) 361-8489.
Beyond the challenge of maintaining an adequate number of volunteers to staff three stations in the three towns in the Valley, the NFAA currently faces a challenging financial situation. To overcome the current deficit Steckel says that there are two main actions being taken. One is a drive to increase membership numbers significantly, including business memberships. The second is a major change to billing member’s insurance coverage for ambulance service. The members personally will not be responsible for any co-pays or excess cost not covered by insurance but, according to Steckel, if members do not have insurance the cost will be reduced by 60% and the rest can be paid on a payment plan. Being able to bill for all ambulance runs, serving a member or not should bring in a good portion extra revenue, about $80,000 to $90,000, a number that should cut the deficit in half.
According to Steckel, business membership does not include coverage for employees or owners, only customers. Employees should have a household membership.
Steckel said that without a successful increase in membership and the universal insurance billing the NFAA will have to cut services. This would entail beginning by closing the Crawford ambulance station and then possibly the Paonia one as well and have all ambulance service be dispatched centrally out of the Hotchkiss Station.
“Response times to 911 emergencies… is really, really going to suffer,” Steckel told the Hotchkiss Chamber board.

Then there are the concerns of the public and the level of service that is wanted. The North Fork Ambulance Association (serving a 1,550 sq. mile service area) held a series of public meeting this past spring and early summer and some of the priorities expressed were: Response time – the public wanted the best response time possible. Obviously this would mean three stations and plenty of volunteers.
Higher Level of Care – This would involve a higher level of training for the EMTs and an ability to provide such things as pain medication and cardiac drugs on site. Currently the NFAA provides “basic life support” and is moving towards “advanced life support” with the first four EMTs completing additional training. But, this will add additional costs.
Budget Deficit – Then while the public wants a higher level of service than is currently provided, a deficit is again anticipated for the 2015 year.

So the ball is definitely in the public’s court. Pony up more membership money and support the new billing structure or suffer the consequences. The alternatives are all bad, reduced service or a move to a tax supported district, which would also have limitations as well as requiring a vote of district residents.

Steckel said that in billing insurance for ambulance service the statement asks for about $1,000 to $1,200 per run and what the insurance/individuals actually end up paying is about 48% of that amount. For example Medicare has a standard maximum payment of $425 for an ambulance run. Medicaid pays only 8% of whatever they are billed for ambulance service. The rest of the actual expense of providing the service has to come from somewhere.
Steckel and husband Rick are both 20 year volunteers with the Crawford NFAA station. They pointed out that if the NFAA became tax-supported district and was fully funded with paid staff at three stations, ALS care (the highest level); the tax increase would be about $147.50 per $100,000 of residential value. Commercial properties would pay four to five times that amount for the same valuation increment.

Even if a tax supported service were cut to a single station in Hotchkiss with response time extended to 22 to 25 minutes or more in the Paonia and Crawford areas the cost for a professionally staffed ALS level service would be about $65 per $100,000 of residential value and $300 plus on commercial property.

Another option would be to form a tax supported district but keep it volunteer and tax only at a rate that would cover the present level of member contributions plus any deficit amount.
As a chosen scenario, Steckel said that the current board would like to see the service remain as a volunteer, member owned non-profit and not become a governmental entity. Currently volunteers are providing 52,560 volunteer hours per year. The average number of ambulance calls is 700 to 800 per year, about double to three times the combined fire district calls in the Valley. Steckel estimated that even with a tax levy at Fire Department levels, and all volunteers, service might have to be cut back to one station.

Keep all of this in mind when you open that envelope in the mail. Membership benefits you as well as the greater community. The ball (and the future of a very valuable community resource) is in your court.