Oxford puts paid EMS service into effect
An Oxford fire truck at the opening day parade for the Chenango County Fair. (Photo by Tyler Murphy)
OXFORD - Citing a shortage of volunteers and a growing dependency on outside agencies for help, the Oxford Village EMS Department has made the switch to a paid part-time staff system that it hopes will boost EMS response rates in the village and its contracting municipalities.
Starting this week, the department will utilize paid staff to provide emergency medical services and transport between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., the goal being to boost daytime response rates to 80-90 percent while night time calls continue to be handled by volunteers. It also aims to reduce the need for mutual aid from other EMS agencies to less than 10 percent. Oxford currently relies heavily on EMS coverage from neighboring districts, including paid ones in Norwich and Greene.
It’s a necessary change, explained Oxford Mayor Terry Stark; one that might be sustainable if the department hits its targets.
“We know what the expense is going to be for the hours that we schedule,” said Stark. “The wild card is the number of calls that we respond to and if it’s going to be enough to offset the cost.”
The village plans to pay for the $220,000 initiative through a combination of future EMS billing and a $167,000 reserve account built up since 2017, when it began billing for EMS services. Revenue from billing will be used for personnel while taxpayers foot basic operational expenses like fuel and ambulance maintenance.
The challenge, officials say, is whether or not the department reaches the call volume needed to sustain this new service. What’s more, they expect reserve funds will be depleted within two years, making it essential that the department responds to roughly 480 to 500 calls per year just to break even.
“As we start this service, we’re going to really have to keep our fingers on the pulse,” said Oxford EMS Captain Mark Forest. “It’s likely that we’ll operate at a deficit until we reach a certain point. We’ll have to watch our revenue streams to help keep this valuable system afloat.”
The village also has several unknowns to consider, one of them relating to the high number of Medicaid and Medicare recipients in the Oxford EMS district. If the village doesn’t get Medicaid or Medicare reimbursements, money gets tight. Mutual aid hasn’t really been factored into the mix either, said Stark.
Staffing paid EMS technicians during daytime hours could obligate Oxford to respond to mutual aid requests outside of their district - something Stark said the village would be happy to do, just as it received help from other districts in the past. However, more mutual aid responses would put a strain on the department’s budget.
The village may also have to convince other contracting townships that paid EMS service is worth the expense; and with many of them not wanting to see more than a two percent increase in their existing fire contracts, it could be a hard sell to include additional costs for EMS personnel. The village currently holds fire contracts with the towns of Oxford, Preston, and Smithville.
In spite of all that, survival of paid EMS hinges on call numbers, said Stark. The plan requires a 37 percent annual increase in calls to be sustainable, which he admitted is a “significant stretch for the Oxford area.”
“If we don’t get to the call volumes that are necessary to break even, yeah we’ll have to face some questions,” he said, adding that the village may need to reevaluate its plan if the number of calls doesn’t reach critical levels by June, 2023. “If we want to continue it, we’ll have to raise taxes or reduce service or hopefully get some kind of subsidy depending on the county and what their plan might be at that time.”
Village officials say changes to Oxford’s EMS plan aren’t contingent on the county’s newly adopted EMS plan, but may actually benefit. In April, the Chenango County Board of Supervisors adopted a decentralized plan to improve EMS county-wide. Its plan calls for the hiring of nearly 20 EMS employees and a lease deal for equipment from municipal EMS departments. The county’s Emergency Management Office said the objective is to support existing EMS services, not replace them. Forest said his department is buying into the county’s plan but will remain the primary agency for the Oxford area.
In the meantime, Oxford’s focus is on sustaining its own paid service.
“This is a service we need; it’s a service that we’re going to have to watch incoming and outgoing revenues,” said Forest. “We’re going to have to be prepared to take action. The only thing is, our only action is turning to the taxpayers who hopefully will value the service. We have a long bridge to cross.”
Starting this week, the department will utilize paid staff to provide emergency medical services and transport between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., the goal being to boost daytime response rates to 80-90 percent while night time calls continue to be handled by volunteers. It also aims to reduce the need for mutual aid from other EMS agencies to less than 10 percent. Oxford currently relies heavily on EMS coverage from neighboring districts, including paid ones in Norwich and Greene.
It’s a necessary change, explained Oxford Mayor Terry Stark; one that might be sustainable if the department hits its targets.
“We know what the expense is going to be for the hours that we schedule,” said Stark. “The wild card is the number of calls that we respond to and if it’s going to be enough to offset the cost.”
The village plans to pay for the $220,000 initiative through a combination of future EMS billing and a $167,000 reserve account built up since 2017, when it began billing for EMS services. Revenue from billing will be used for personnel while taxpayers foot basic operational expenses like fuel and ambulance maintenance.
The challenge, officials say, is whether or not the department reaches the call volume needed to sustain this new service. What’s more, they expect reserve funds will be depleted within two years, making it essential that the department responds to roughly 480 to 500 calls per year just to break even.
“As we start this service, we’re going to really have to keep our fingers on the pulse,” said Oxford EMS Captain Mark Forest. “It’s likely that we’ll operate at a deficit until we reach a certain point. We’ll have to watch our revenue streams to help keep this valuable system afloat.”
The village also has several unknowns to consider, one of them relating to the high number of Medicaid and Medicare recipients in the Oxford EMS district. If the village doesn’t get Medicaid or Medicare reimbursements, money gets tight. Mutual aid hasn’t really been factored into the mix either, said Stark.
Staffing paid EMS technicians during daytime hours could obligate Oxford to respond to mutual aid requests outside of their district - something Stark said the village would be happy to do, just as it received help from other districts in the past. However, more mutual aid responses would put a strain on the department’s budget.
The village may also have to convince other contracting townships that paid EMS service is worth the expense; and with many of them not wanting to see more than a two percent increase in their existing fire contracts, it could be a hard sell to include additional costs for EMS personnel. The village currently holds fire contracts with the towns of Oxford, Preston, and Smithville.
In spite of all that, survival of paid EMS hinges on call numbers, said Stark. The plan requires a 37 percent annual increase in calls to be sustainable, which he admitted is a “significant stretch for the Oxford area.”
“If we don’t get to the call volumes that are necessary to break even, yeah we’ll have to face some questions,” he said, adding that the village may need to reevaluate its plan if the number of calls doesn’t reach critical levels by June, 2023. “If we want to continue it, we’ll have to raise taxes or reduce service or hopefully get some kind of subsidy depending on the county and what their plan might be at that time.”
Village officials say changes to Oxford’s EMS plan aren’t contingent on the county’s newly adopted EMS plan, but may actually benefit. In April, the Chenango County Board of Supervisors adopted a decentralized plan to improve EMS county-wide. Its plan calls for the hiring of nearly 20 EMS employees and a lease deal for equipment from municipal EMS departments. The county’s Emergency Management Office said the objective is to support existing EMS services, not replace them. Forest said his department is buying into the county’s plan but will remain the primary agency for the Oxford area.
In the meantime, Oxford’s focus is on sustaining its own paid service.
“This is a service we need; it’s a service that we’re going to have to watch incoming and outgoing revenues,” said Forest. “We’re going to have to be prepared to take action. The only thing is, our only action is turning to the taxpayers who hopefully will value the service. We have a long bridge to cross.”
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