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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Tower Ambulance shifting to paid on-call

New staffing system will go into effect on July 1

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 5/24/17

TOWER— The city council here made quick work of a short agenda on Monday, approving an extension for the blight response at the Standing Bear Marina and a contract with the IRRRB that clears the …

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Tower Ambulance shifting to paid on-call

New staffing system will go into effect on July 1

Posted

TOWER— The city council here made quick work of a short agenda on Monday, approving an extension for the blight response at the Standing Bear Marina and a contract with the IRRRB that clears the way for the Tower Economic Development Authority to receive a $125,000 grant.

The council also gave the go-ahead to advertise for new ambulance service personnel for a paid on-call system being advocated by Ambulance Director Steve Altenburg.

Altenburg briefly outlined the new paid on-call system, which is set to take effect July 1. Under the new system, two ambulance staff, including an EMT and an EMR (emergency medical responder) will be paid on-call 24 hours a day from early morning on Monday through midnight on Friday. Crews will work one of two shifts— either Monday through midday Wednesday, or midday Wednesday through late Friday. On-call personnel would need to be able to respond to the ambulance hall within five minutes of a call. “That’s why the issue of sleeping quarters has come up recently,” said Tower City Clerk-Treasurer Linda Keith. Indeed, the latest version of the proposed joint emergency services building includes a second story for staff apartments.

On-call personnel would be paid 24 hours a day, at a rate of $9 an hour for EMRs or rookie EMTs, and $13 an hour for experienced EMTs.

The payroll costs of the new system would be substantial. In a report to the council in April, Altenburg predicted annual payroll at about $143,520 annually, although that included an hourly rate of $10 an hour for EMRs, higher than the $9 an hour currently being offered for the position. That would reduce the payroll cost by about $3,000. But neither estimate includes fringe benefits and other payroll costs. According to Keith, that typically adds about 20 percent to the base payroll cost, which would push the total payroll cost for the program closer to $165,000 annually.

Altenburg told the council in April that the system will pay for itself by allowing the ambulance service to complete more transfers for area hospitals. He noted that the service had received 54 transfer calls in January-March, and had to turn down 37 of those due to lack of volunteers.

Transfers are significant revenue generators for the service, with a base rate for a typical transfer from an area hospital to Duluth ranging from $2,000-$2,500 according to Keith. But the service typically receives less than that, particularly for transfers paid by Medicare or Medicaid, which generally reimburse at about 50 percent of that rate. Most other private insurance providers pay about 80 percent on the dollar, she said. That puts the typical average reimbursement at a minimum of 60 percent, said Altenburg.

Handling additional runs would require the ambulance service to incur additional operational costs for vehicle maintenance, fuel, and related travel costs, which Altenburg did not include in his report on the proposal. But Altenburg said those costs are built into the rate that the ambulance receives for transfers and shouldn’t be counted as an additional expense to the ambulance service. And Altenburg noted that the ambulance service will do significantly better financially when the on-call personnel respond to medical calls, since the on-call rate for personnel is significantly lower than the $25 an hour rate for regular volunteer responders.

“There is no way you can possibly lose unless you don’t do the transfers,” said Altenburg.

In other business, Julie Johnson provided an update to the council on Fourth of July planning. Johnson is spearheading the creation of the new Tower-Soudan-Lake Vermilion Area Events Board, which is taking over Fourth of July activities from the city of Tower. The newly-formed nonprofit recently applied for 501(c)3 status with the IRS, which will make contributions to the organization tax deductible.

Johnson said the group is planning to serve as an umbrella nonprofit for Fourth of July activities as well as other events and activities that might be held in the area, such as Little League, the local hockey day, and the Tower-Soudan Queen committee, if it becomes active again in the future.

Currently, however, the group is focused on raising funds and organizing for the Fourth of July events. Johnson said the group has raised over $8,000 so far towards a goal of $15,000. Johnson and the council discussed logistical concerns for the event, such as ensuring enough portable toilets, providing for handicapped parking, and the possible use of bleachers owned by Breitung Township for parade viewers. She noted that raffle tickets to help raise funds for the event are currently on sale at Vermilion Fuel and Food, D’ericks, and Benchwarmers.

In other action, the council:

• Approved a $125,000 grant contract with the IRRRB for TEDA to provide a low-interest loan to Tower Vision 2025 to fill an early funding gap for the town home project. The grant funds will become part of a permanent revolving loan fund for TEDA, which is the first time that the authority will have had any significant funding available for economic development. The loan to Tower Vision is set for repayment within 36 months at a rate of 2.5 percent.

The city expects to receive the full $125,000 grant as soon as the IRRRB processes the contract, which should be completed within two weeks. In the meantime, the council at their last meeting approved a short-term bridge loan to Tower Vision from the city’s storefront renovation fund. Those storefront dollars will be replaced as soon as the IRRRB grant funds arrive.

• Granted an extension for clean-up and blight remediation work at the Standing Bear Marina. Current marina owners Ralph and Ellen Hilla, in a letter from their attorney, informed the council that they have already made significant progress in meeting the city’s blight compliance order, issued in late April, but likely would be unable to complete all the required work by the 30-day deadline in the order. Councilors noted that as long as progress was underway, they were amenable to an extension and agreed to give them until July 30 to complete the effort.

• Instructed Clerk-Treasurer Keith to solicit quotes for propane for the next heating season. Councilor Fitton said he had recently contacted local propane providers for the Vermilion Country Charter School and found a significant difference in pricing, ranging from 95¢ to $1.19 a gallon. He noted that Como Oil and Gas was currently the highest, although Councilor Lance Dougherty argued that the local connection and jobs provided by Como was worth considering in any decision. The council will take up the issue at an upcoming meeting.

• Approved a motion to lease land for a sewage lift station near the river to the Tower-Breitung Wastewater Board for $1.