Valley Emergency Medical Services is looking to expand.
Executive Director Jason Perillo has proposed adding a staffing service to the current paramedic services VEMS offers to the five lower Naugatuck Valley towns.
But some members of the VEMS board of directors are concerned about how the the change could affect the non-profit status — and the original intent — of VEMS.
Background
Each Valley town pays VEMS for its regional paramedic services.
VEMS paramedics complement the volunteer ambulance crews in each of the towns by responding to incidents and providing the additional care that emergency medical technicians aren’t trained to perform.
The VEMS crews drive their own trucks and respond separate from local ambulance crews. VEMS can’t transport patients, but a paramedic might ride along on a call in an ambulance.
The proposed staffing service would allow VEMS to also hire out paramedics to staff local ambulance crews.
Some towns, such as Shelton, already contract with a staffing company to fill in daytime shifts when it’s hard to get enough volunteers.
Options
The VEMS board of directors agreed to look into the expansion at its last meeting two months ago. On Wednesday, Perillo presented the board with options to move forward with the plan.
VEMS, as it exists today, couldn’t apply to the state Department of Public Health for a license to provide the staffing service, Perillo said.
So he offered the board three options:
- Apply for a different license that would allow VEMS to provide other types of ambulance services as well
- Create a non-profit subsidiary to apply for the license
- Create a for-profit subsidiary to apply for the license
Once they realized it might involved a change in the structure of VEMS, board members backed away from the idea.
“Now we’re talking about a corporate offshoot,” said board member Joe Laucella, who is the assistant chief for Echo Hose Ambulance in Shelton. “One could argue about taxpayers money.”
The board of directors is made up of representatives from each town’s ambulance corps, from the towns and from Griffin Hospital.
“I don’t think the board should form a for-profit subsidiary,” said Oxford Ambulance Association director Jerry Schwab. “That’s where Jason and I disagree.”
But the staffing service might be useful to fill in slots in Oxford, Schwab said, and he’d rather hire a Valley organization than another staffing service to do it.
“I think we should go ahead and do it,” Shwab said. “Go ahead and do it as a non-profit.”
Pat Lahaza, a board member representing Derby, said that city is not interested in the staffing service.
Others expressed concerns that the staffing service might extend beyond the Valley, breaking the original structure of the organization.
A Disservice?
After discussing the issue, the board voted to table any movement until each representative had more time to discuss the proposal with town or city leaders.
Perillo said he was disappointed the proposal was stalled, and said he would have been willing to present the idea to local leaders.
“We voted on this two months ago,” Perillo said. “If you really wanted to move forward, you could have asked me questions.”
Perillo said any expansion beyond the Valley would only happen if it had no averse affect on the current coverage.
“The hope is that any money generated would allow us to cut the price of the service we provide to the Valley communities,” Perillo said.
Perillo said if the board decides not to approve the staffing service, they would be holding VEMS back.
“I think the board members who don’t want to move forward are doing a disservice to the EMS community, and doing a disservice to the towns we serve,” Perillo said after the meeting.
Second Attempt
Last January, VEMS was looking at another avenue to expand its services.
VEMS applied with the state Department of Public Health to obtain an ambulance license, but with a lack of support from the Valley towns, VEMS pulled the application.
