Borough OKs EMS deal

By: Cara Latham
   HIGHTSTOWN — The Borough Council this week voted unanimously to authorize a three-year agreement with Washington Township for emergency medical services.
   The deal will cost the borough about $215,000 this year, which translates into an annual savings of about $43,000, according to Borough Administrator Candace Gallagher.
   Monmouth Ocean Hospital Service Corp. (MONOC), which previously provided emergency medical services to the borough, had given the borough a quote of $259,000 for the year, she said.
   In addition to the annual savings on the contract cost, Ms. Gallagher said later in the week, the agreement will allow the borough to earn about $12,500 annually in revenue from billing reimbursements, something the borough has not shared in with MONOC.
   Washington Township Council was expected to vote Thursday night on the agreement. If approved, the deal takes effect today.
   "This is going to be an added benefit for both towns because both towns will now be able to back each other up," Washington Township Mayor Dave Fried said Wednesday. "I think we will also be able to create a better response time and also will be able to save money for both of our residents."
   "I would hope that the (Township )Council will consider it carefully, he added.
   EMTs will continue to take patients to the hospitals of their choice within reason, Ms. Gallagher said, and patients’ insurance companies will continue to be billed.
   The system will utilize one ambulance stationed in the borough and another in the township, and the two towns will share another ambulance, owned by the township, for backup, she said. In addition, the towns will seek a grant to buy two new ambulances, one to be located in each town.
   The Borough Council action was taken Monday night with little comment.
   Mayor Patten, who announced a tentative deal in January, said after the meeting, "It’s a great thing to do."
   Council President Walter Sikorski echoed the sentiment Tuesday.
   "An interlocal agreement is the better way to go in the future in light of the governor’s appeal for regionalization, consolidation, of services," he said. "I think this is a step in the right direction, showing that two communities can work together for the common good."
   Under the agreement, the borough will pay for two township emergency medical technicians at $14 an hour during 2007, Ms. Gallagher said. After the first year, the rate jumps to $14.50, but it’s difficult to say how much the total cost for the two EMTS would then be, in part, because there’s no way of knowing how much borough volunteers will be contributing at that point, she added. The third-year rate for the EMTs is $15 an hour.
   Emergency medical services will be offered by Washington Township employees 24 hours a day for five days a week, and 14 hours a day for two days a week. Hightstown volunteers will continue to work their current two, 10-hour nightshifts, Ms. Gallagher said.
   "If they’re able to take on more, they will, and that will reduce our costs" even further, Ms. Gallagher said.
   A full-time coordinator is expected to be hired, possibly from within the township’s ranks.
   The township will give the borough half of the billing reimbursements from insurance companies for calls within the borough, with the other half going toward the coordinator’s salary, according to Ms. Gallagher, who said her understanding is that the borough’s net revenue will be about $12,500.
   The Borough Council on Monday approved an interim deal with MONOC, at $710 a day until the new interlocal agreement kicks in.
   "MONOC is going to cover us until the transition is going to take place," Ms. Gallagher said.
   In other business Monday, the council honored Patrolman Frank Marchione, who is beginning his sixth year with the borough Police Department, as 2006 Policeman of the Year.
   Brian Johnson, who joined the Hightstown Engine Co. No. 1 as a junior fireman in 1994 and became a firefighter in 1997, was named 2006 Firefighter of the Year Award.
   And Sgt. Alex Contreras, a volunteer emergency medical technician with the Hightstown First Aid squad, was named 2006 EMT of the Year.