Health center not planning bid on ambulance service

Administrator and CEO Deb Cardin updated Jefferson County Health Center Board of Trustees on the ambulance service situation during a meeting Monday evening at the hospital.

Cardin explained the Jefferson County Area Ambulance submitted a letter of intent to the Jefferson County Ambulance Service Agency to terminate its contract with the county effective Sept. 30. She said the Jefferson County Ambulance Service Agency is taking bids until 3:30 p.m. Aug. 24 to find a new service provider.

Cardin told the trustees Jefferson County Supervisor Steve Burgmeier and Fairfield City Administrator Kevin Flanagan ?strongly encouraged? the health center to submit a bid during the Jefferson County Ambulance Service Agency meeting Wednesday. She said Burgmeier and Flanagan don?t feel any private entity, like the current Jefferson County Area Ambulance, will be able to turn a profit because of changes in reimbursement rates by Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies and an increase in the number of uninsured patrons using the ambulance service.

She also told the trustees Burgmeier and Flanagan ?feel Jefferson County Health Center could provide better benefits? for ambulance employees.

Although Burgmeier and Flanagan had encouraged Cardin and the health center?s chief financial officer Gene Irwin to submit a bid, Cardin told the trustees: ?I prefer to see what we get back from the bids as a viable option.?

?Keep in mind,? she continued, ?we?ve already completed our budget, and it doesn?t include any ambulance operation. ? We already have a negative bottom line for the budget.?

In June, the Jefferson County Health Center budgeted a fiscal year 2013 Operating and Capital Budgets with a net income of negative $220,121. The net income is negative because hospitals, including the local health center, will receive a reduced reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid for services rendered beginning Jan. 1 unless the federal government steps in to make a change.

Cardin said the health center could increase its levy, but ?we do not want to do that.?

But, she added, ?The hospital knows we need an ambulance for the county, and we?ll do what we need to do to have an ambulance.?

In other business, Cardin stated in her written report to the trustees the design meetings for the expansion on the north side of the facility are proceeding as planned and should be wrapped up by Thursday so final documentation for the first bid package ? site/foundation/structure ? can start.

?As mentioned at previous board meetings, a retail pharmacy is interested in some of the shelled space planned in the expansion,? wrote Cardin. ?My hope is to have a signed lease by next month.?

Dr. Michael Pogela and Dr. Stokes Dickins moved their practice, Southeast Iowa Neurological Associates, from Ottumwa to the JCHC Professional Clinic and opened July 2. Cardin said they will be in the professional clinic until they can move into the new addition.

Medical Arts Clinic pediatrician Jay Heitsman and internist Nilfar Karimova have moved to the north end of the health center?s specialty clinic until Medical Arts can expand its practice into the new addition. Cardin said patients for the two doctors check in at the Medical Arts reception area and then are taken back through the clinic to the specialty clinic area.

She also reported the leadership team and the health enter?s enginner, Larry Mitchell, have reviewed several options to increase parking for the new addition, and French-Reneker-Associates Inc. is still revising drawings to ensure safety, optimize space and existing infrastructure and allow room for further expansion.

Cardin?s written report also stated the maintenance department is remodeling the south end of the JCHC Professional Clinic to accommodate American EyeCare. Optometry services can begin when the remodeling is completed. The target date for completion is Aug. 6.