TransCare to modify Grant County coverage

WILLIAMSTOWN — The following is a letter written Feb. 16 by Karl Kaucher, president and CEO for TransCare, to the editor of the Grant County News.

Dear Editor:

Our Mission Statement obligates us to provide high-quality, comprehensive, cost-effective services to the Northern Kentucky community. We receive no tax dollars from any governmental entity to support our operation. To fulfill our mission, we have to constantly assess the services we provide in light of the assets we possess to deliver them.

Grant County Ambulance Service, then a privately owned company, was the provider of Basic Life Support (BLS) services for many years. In the Fall of 1995, the service was sold to The St. Luke Hospitals. Prior to the sale, Grant County Ambulance's ownership staffed one BLS (EMT-level) ambulance full-time and one with 'call' personnel. Paramedics responded from Boone County and generally met the ambulance enroute to the hospital. During 1996, St. Luke contracted with Northern Kentucky Emergency Medical Service (NKEMS) to station car-based paramedics in Grant County.

The number of Tiered ALS runs was so small that St. Luke could not justify the expense for the tiered service, so NKEMS paramedics were contracted to staff a single Grant County ambulance, partnering with an EMT from Grant County. Late in 1997, St. Luke hired some of these paramedics to work in Grant County.

In 1998, The Saint Luke Hospitals and St. Elizabeth Medical Center formed TransCare of Kentucky, Inc., a Kentucky Not-For-Profit Corporation, to provide Tiered Advanced Life Support (Paramedic) services, 911 ambulance services in Grant County, and inter-facility ambulance service throughout the Northern Kentucky community. TransCare incorporated the assets of St. Luke's Grant County Ambulance Service and St. Elizabeth Advanced Life Support Services, and subsequently purchased all of the EMS-related assets from NKEMS.

Several months after TransCare began providing service, operations in Grant County were expanded to provide two ALS ambulances for the county. At the time, we believed the number of calls would increase dramatically with the County's growth. Each ambulance was staffed with one Paramedic and one Emergency Medical Technician.

In the months since this occurred, we have tracked the number of calls for service in Grant County, along with the frequency and timing of these calls. As we examine the costs of providing this service, we measure a loss of more than $300,000.00 per year in our Grant County operation. This loss, coupled with the fact that both of these ambulances - combined - completed less than five calls per day led us to conclude that changes must be made to maintain TransCare's financial health.

TransCare's Management, in conjunction with the Board of Directors, has recognized a need to make adjustments in the way we operate in Grant County. At this time, the volume of calls in Grant County simply does not support having two ALS ambulances. As a result, we are implementing changes in our operational plan that will go into effect on March 1, 2000. We want to do everything we can to make sure the citizens of Grant County continue to receive the best service possible.

On March 1 we will station an ambulance at St. Elizabeth - Grant County that will be staffed by two Paramedics. We are developing a way to staff a second unit using local EMTs, who would be dispatched to emergency calls by pager when available. We will continue to provide non-emergency transportation using ambulances from our transportation service.

These changes will also include the transfer of personnel from Grant County to the North operation and the reassignment of some work stations for our ambulance crews.

We have supplied Automated External Defibrillator (AED) units to two of Grant County's Fire Departments, and are negotiating purchase of a third. We will provide the certification classes, continuing education classes, and a physician to serve as medical director for the Fire Department-based units stationed in the County. Along with other units in the county, there will be a minimum of four AED units in Grant County.

We have Mutual Aid contracts in place with all the EMS agencies surrounding Grant County. We believe these arrangements will assure the continued availability of a prompt response to 911 calls any time our unit based in Grant County is unavailable.

Thank you for your support, cooperation, and understanding of our efforts. Please contact us at (606) 392-2805 if you have questions or need additional information.

Sincerely,
Karl Kaucher President/CEO

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