CONTRACT WOULD SPEED AMBULANCE SERVICE.Byline: Kermit Pattison Daily News Staff Writer Ventura County's three ambulance companies would have to reduce response times and wean wean (wen) to discontinue breast feeding and substitute other feeding habits. wean v. 1. To deprive permanently of breast milk and begin to nourish with other food. 2. themselves from their government subsidies under a proposed new contract. The five-year agreement would require the private ambulance companies to arrive at medical emergencies more rapidly and phase out subsidies over three years. ``It is a performance-based contract,'' said Barbara Brodfuehrer, administrator of Ventura County Emergency Medical Services An Emergency medical service (abbreviated to initialism "EMS" in many countries) is a service providing out-of-hospital acute care and transport to definitive care, to patients with illnesses and injuries which the patient believes constitutes a medical emergency. . ``We anticipate they are going to perform optimally, or at least aim for that.'' A spokesman for the county's largest ambulance company called the proposed contract a tougher agreement, but fair. ``It's a good contract,'' said Steve Murphy Steve Murphy (born 1957-09-09) is a State Senator for the 28th district of Minnesota, and a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. He represents parts of Goodhue, Wabasha, and Winona counties in the south-eastern portion of Minnesota. , vice president for government relations at MedTrans, which serves most of Ventura County. ``A lot of hard work went into it on all sides.'' The county Board of Supervisors The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. The Board of Supervisors is the body governing counties in the U.S. will meet today to consider the proposed contract, which have been negotiated over four months between ambulance companies and county health officials. MedTrans, formerly known as Pruner Ambulance and CareLine, serves Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. , Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. , Moorpark, Camarillo, Ventura, Fillmore and Santa Paula Santa Paula (săn`tə pôl`ə), city (1990 pop. 25,062), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Santa Clara River in a fertile valley that yields citrus fruits, avocados, vegetables, flowers, nursery products, and walnuts; laid out 1875, inc. . Ojai Ambulance covers the Ojai Valley, and Gold Coast Ambulance serves the Oxnard and Port Hueneme area. The issue of contracting for ambulance service has been mired mire n. 1. An area of wet, soggy, muddy ground; a bog. 2. Deep slimy soil or mud. 3. A disadvantageous or difficult condition or situation: the mire of poverty. v. in controversy because Ventura County firefighters have lobbied to compete for contracted service and have questioned the response times of the private companies. But the Board of Supervisors voted last year to continue the exclusive contract with the three companies. Under the new contract, ambulance companies would have to arrive at emergencies within 10 minutes in 90 percent of their calls - a decrease of 59 seconds from the current standard. When a new, prioritized dispatch system comes on line within the next year, the ambulances would have to lower response times to eight minutes and 30 seconds in 90 percent of their calls in most areas. ``It's pretty advantageous to the patients,'' said Brodfuehrer. ``We think it will improve the system. It gets us closer to what the state thinks is the optimum, which is eight minutes.'' Under the proposed contract, a $180,707 subsidy the county now pays to the ambulance companies for transporting patients who can't pay would gradually be phased out by 1999. ``We feel the provider should be self-sufficient in the care of medically indigent indigent 1) n. a person so poor and needy that he/she cannot provide the necessities of life (food, clothing, decent shelter) for himself/herself. 2) n. one without sufficient income to afford a lawyer for defense in a criminal case. persons,'' said Brodfuehrer. The county actually would pay the ambulance companies a higher subsidy for serving sparsely populated areas in the Ojai and Santa Clara River valleys, but the total cost of subsidies and other county support to the ambulance companies - including indigent care and such things as transporting injured prisoners - would drop from $261,119 this year to $98,012 by 1999. Ambulance companies have argued that the county should not scrap the subsidy for indigents. ``Obviously, we're not thrilled with it,'' said Murphy. ``It doesn't begin to meet the actual cost of providing indigent care.'' The contract also would allow ambulance companies to raise rates by 9 percent for services like emergency responses, oxygen or bandages. |
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