There has to be some sort of compromise that can be reached regarding our depleting ambulance fleet in Rio Arriba County. We have six. We were only using three. Now we’re down to two.
Two ambulances in a county the size of New Hampshire is not sufficient. Three wasn’t.
The problem is we’re served by a private company, Presbyterian Hospital. We understand the hospital needs to try to make money. That’s not easily accomplished in a county with our lopsided numbers of uninsured or underinsured.
Hospitals take their biggest hits on ambulance runs and emergency room treatment. Some ambulance services in the past went so far as requiring payment or assurance of payment before they threw you in the wagon.
When keeping two or even three ambulances in service in our large County, the possibility of all of them being tied up, at the same time someone desperately needs one, grows with the size of the county.
But what to do? The hospital is experiencing tough financial times, as are we all. The private business model is to cut expenses where and when possible until revenue returns and you can reimplement the old programs that had to be cut.
A hospital is a little different. It owes a little more to the community than keeping a good business model. And this is about saving lives, not just money. The hospital receives a lot of County money. How much? We’re not sure because administrators continually (and incorrectly) hide behind the Health Insurance Privacy and Portability Act to keep those invoices and amounts from the public. However, the hospital does acknowledge it receives County money for indigent care and equipment purchases. It also receives money from the 911 gross receipts tax passed two years ago.
So we have a slight buy-in. Despite that, we don’t know how the hospital is run. We don’t know if salaries for administrators are out of hand like at other companies and universities. We don’t know how maintenance is done on the hospital, the utility costs or if there is a rolling slush fund for trips.
Since it is a private business, it doesn’t have to disclose such things. Because it takes County money, it has a responsibility to us. It is also the only hospital that serves this area. Los Alamos Medical Center has offices and doctors here but no emergency room, hospital or ambulance service.
The hospital has an agreement with the County to operate two ambulances. Hospital Administrator Derrick Yu is unapologetic in the ambulance service decline. He’s sticking with his business model and the letter of the agreement with the County.
Before cutting services, perhaps the Hospital Board could sit down with our County leaders and see if each group can cover half the cost of one ambulance for one fiscal year ($50,000 each).
Our accountant reminds us, the girls won’t dance with you if you don’t ask them.