The City of Fort Worth is considering changes to the way its EMS system works after a study found that response times were lagging, and the system was overworked last year.
The study, conducted by Fitch and Associates, analyzed MedStar, the governmental administrative agency that currently provides ambulance and EMS services to Fort Worth and 13 other cities through an inter-city agreement.
The authors presented the final report update to the Ad Hoc Council Committee on Emergency Medical Response on Tuesday.
Fitch's study found that MedStar's recent financial problems "have impacted the ability to deploy the optimal number of resources" last year, causing longer response times and higher staff workload.
Get DFW local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC DFW newsletters.
Matt Zavadsky, spokesperson for MedStar, said they've been sounding the alarm about money for years.
“MedStar, like many EMS agencies across the country, have seen costs skyrocket. Certainly since the pandemic but even before then," he said.
Currently, most of MedStar's budget comes from fees paid by health insurance and government programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
“Our costs have escalated much faster than the revenue that we generate from the fees that we provide the patients," Zavadsky said.
Zavadsky said MedStar approached the city for public funding to help pay for service. That's what initiated the study, and a deeper dive into the efficiency of the current EMS system.
“This year, we really got to the point where we couldn’t spend reserves, anymore, so it became real that, yeah, we really do need some public funding if you want to get that same level of service," he said.
The study proposes four EMS models:
The first model would keep MedStar and pay $3.2 million of public funding for services. The second model would have EMS services handled by the Fort Worth Fire Department, costing about $10.5 million. In the third model, the city would absorb MedStar or create its own third-service EMS agency, with a $15.3 million price tag. In the fourth model, Fort Worth would contract with a provider through an RFP process, estimated to cost $9.4 million.
“It depends on what model is chosen as to what level of change we’ll see," said Valerie Washington, Fort Worth Assistant City Manager.
She added that Fitch's costs don't include capital costs; for example, if the city needed to purchase ambulances or buildings.
The city said they don't know where the money would come from, yet, but that cost won't be the only deciding factor.
“Honestly, I think that when you do a study like this, you do need to look at all options, everything from the ease of staffing to managing contracts, to what is the best long-term?” Washington said.
She said each option has at least one common factor: Help could get to neighbors faster, shaving 5.5 minutes off response times.
“They are built on models that would provide an 8-minute travel time, 90% of the time. So, that would be for those higher level medical cases where you would need someone to be there quickly, where minutes matter," Washington said.
The committee is set to discuss the options at two more meetings in April. Their recommendation would have to go to the full city council for more discussion and a vote.
