Englewood has executed a Memorandum of Understanding with Midwest Medical Transport to provide patient transports between Premier Health facilities.
File photo
ENGLEWOOD — The city of Englewood has executed a Memorandum of Understanding with Midwest Medical Transport to provide patient transports for Premier Health.
Premier had previously contracted with a company called AMR (American Medical Response) but when the contract was re-bid, AMR raised its rates according to City Manager Eric Smith. Midwest Medical Transport submitted a lower bid and was awarded the contract.
“From my understanding, Midwest Medical Transport was not prepared for the load that they contracted for,” Smith said. “It’s incredible how many transports there are between Miami Valley Hospital North here in Englewood to the main hospital in Dayton. There are as many as 20 per day.”
After taking over the contract in April, every time Midwest Medical was overloaded they would call Englewood seeking assistance, according to Smith.
“They soon realized they were in over their heads, so they contacted us and said, ‘How would you like to do almost all of Miami Valley Hospital North’s transports to the main hospital downtown?’ Those take place between midnight and noon,” Smith said.
Englewood might be providing transports during other time periods as well.
Englewood analyzed the numbers and felt the city could make it work financially, so effective July 29 Englewood will begin providing medical transports between those two Premier Health facilities.
The transport service will not affect Englewood’s ability to provide emergency medical services to its residents due to the hiring of two Community Paramedics in June.
“The problem is, these people just can’t be Taxi drivers,” Smith noted. “One has to be a paramedic and the other has to be an Emergency Medical Technician. The EMT drives the ambulance and the paramedic is in the back with the patient, no matter if it is someone with broken finger or somebody with a heart attack.”
A patient that merely needs a transport between Miami Valley Hospital North and the main Miami Valley Hospital downtown, a distance of about eight or nine mile, would cost approximately $350 to transport.
Someone with a serious condition that requires treatment while being transported could cost $900 or more.
“You have to have people that know what they are doing to provide these transports,” Smith said. “We are walking into this with it being a gigantic experiment. We think we know what the future holds, but we are not 100 percent sure. We are going to have to see, when it is activated fully, how it all works out.”
Smith said that ‘Plan B’ if it doesn’t work out would mean the city would not subsidize the transports for Midwest Medical.
“That is why it is not a contract. That’s why it is a Memorandum of Understanding,” Smith added. “We are going to walk away if it doesn’t work out. I told the chief, ‘Look, I am willing make some money on this if we can, but if we are not, we are out of here.’ It is Premier’s problem, not ours.”
Reach Ron Nunnari at (937) 684-9124 or email [email protected].
