GARFIELD — “We are not going to survive,” Sharon Barnett, treasurer for VAS board of directors, said at the regular Finance Committee meeting on Feb. 2,. Then she asked for remaining comments to be off the record.
The new VAS Ambulance Service Corporation Finance Committee met for its first regular monthly meeting to balance checks and discussing current finances.
Present were board members Dorothy Williams, Cris Henry, Sharon Barnett and Grady Allen.
After balancing checks, the committee turned its discussion to patient billing and income.
“That’s costing us,” Barnett, who serves as board treasurer, said, expressing concern over loss of income due to lack of billing for patients not transported.
VAS makes its income from patient billing and the county tax assessment, which has fallen drastically lower than previous years due to the amount of foreclosures in the service area.
According to the VAS charge sheet, patients not transferred should be charged $100. Grady Allen, who is the newest member of the board, asked who is responsible for checking that the charge sheets are coded correctly before sent to billing.
Ultimately, it is operations manger Richard Wynne who should be doing the double checking. However, according to Barnett, there were 13 straight days recently when no activity was reported, even though there were actually two days in which runs were made.
“They are not ‘members,’ I don’tlike that term,” Allen said, referring to taxpayers in the area who pay the $40 per year assessment.
“They don’t pay ‘dues,’ they pay a county assessment to have an ambulance available,” he said.
“I’m good with that (statement), it costs us half that $100 to drive to your house,” Henry said. “Your $40 doesn’t cover that.”
Barnett agreed there is some issue with the ambulance being called for minor things such as blood pressure checks.
“We should advertise that we do free blood pressure checks here at the office,” Allen said. “We want to give the community something for their money.”
Henry agreed that if VAS charges for not transporting someone, it would keep people who don’t need the ambulance from “tying it up for someone who needs it.”
The group also discussed the need to bill patients for the balance not covered by insurance. They will present a motion at next week’s regular board meeting to finalize this process.
The committee also discussed pursuing other avenues to cut costs on utility bills, such as reviewing the use of electricity rather than propane. Currently, the VAS offices consist of two buildings to be heated, each with a water heater.
They will also look into the agreement with Guardian Financial of Lowell, a company hired by former board member Tony Miltich to process the corporation’s payroll.
Barnett believes there are unnecessary expenses involved.
The regular meeting of the VAS board of directors was set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, at the VAS offices in Garfield, after the deadline for The TIMES.
News, Pages 1 on 02/10/2010