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Local Ambulance Service Quits Southern Utah Area
invite response
2013 Apr 11, 11:56am 608 views 5 comments
Comments 1 - 5 of 5 Search these comments
Tenpoundbass
2013 Apr 14, 5:37am
What no more welfare limousine service?
I bet the day Obamacare kicks in, there's going to be millions of sick people flooding into the emergency rooms and doctor offices. The next day, there will be millions of miraculously healed people after they get the copay bills.
elliemae
2013 Apr 14, 2:33pm
Tenpound:
the goal of "obamacare" is for people to receive treatment in physician's offices rather than to be treated in the ER. Or, mistreated in the ER because all docs do is turn patients out to their primary physician.
And change your damn icon. I have this vision of a long haired guy, not a grumpy dude who played the dog from "A boy & his dog" (classic film).
curious2
2013 Apr 16, 11:12am
the goal of "obamacare" is
...to maximize the power and revenue of the lobbyists and politicians who wrote it. Even the federal government's own projections acknowledge it will increase spending, even above prior law, while adding unprecedented federal power. Supporters insist nevertheless that the goal is something else entirely; invariably, they have not read the legislation, and judge instead based on commercial news reports (sponsored primarily by PhRMA, and in some instances wholly owned by companies set to profit from the legislation e.g. GE). Only time will show them that the mandatory insurance covers mainly crap that no rational person would buy (e.g. Homefool's SSRIs), while what would actually help people is not covered, so after paying all they can afford for their "affordable" insurance they are SOL.
There's been an ambulance war going on in St. George for about 1-1/2 years. And the local guys were sent packing. Sure, that happens - but it's the war that's so interesting.
A little background: in Utah, providers are awarded contracts to serve specific areas. Dixie Ambulance has been the only EMS provider in St. George for 30 some-odd years, although 2 years ago they lost the contract to provide non-emergent transfers between the old hospital campus and the new one (and also between the hospital and nursing homes). Dixie Ambulance was pissed at the time and loudly complained that Gold Cross (the chosen provider) was horning in on their territory.
Then Gold Cross went for the jugular, applying for the contract for the city of SGU which was 2/3 of Dixie's business. Dixie complained even louder, and attempted to get the City fathers involved. The City repeatedly stated that, even though they do have the right to refuse to honor the findings of an official inquiry, they would honor the commission's recommendations.
Dixie was found to be lacking in its response times, its vehicle maintenance, and its financial viability. The last category was the most significant, in that the owners had removed $2,000,000 in capital over the past couple of years from the company. They claimed that the greatest asset owned by the company was the contract to serve the area itself - but that was never actually owned by the company. Gold Cross's application to serve SGU was a huge threat to Dixie Ambulance.
The application process took 1-1/2 years; during that time, Dixie Ambulance's owners criticized the process, personally attacked people who dared speak out against them, and continued to remind their employees that any support of Gold Cross would be viewed as traitorous to Dixie Ambulance. The owners continued to operate as usual, including withdrawing $$$ from the company, continuing to pay their employees close to minimum wage with no benefits all the while complaining loudly that Gold Cross was attempting to steal what was theirs and accusing the process as full of corruption.
Here's a link to the 66 page report from the commission, recommending that Gold Cross Ambulance be awarded the contract. http://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/GX-St.George-Washington-2011-02-FINAL-ORDER.pdf
As usual, Dixie Ambulance attempted to blame the order on a corrupt system. Then they took to social media, which didn't work out so well. They promised to sue, they promised to appeal the ruling... they claimed that they were financially viable... and they claimed that their primary responsibility is to the residents of the surrounding areas.
Then, they quit. They're supposed to give up the contract May 1st; instead they have chosen to close their doors immediately. Luckily, Gold Cross has the ability to take over, but Dixie's staff has jumped ship and the embattled owners have decided that their responsibility is to themselves.
The 66 page order is an excellent sample of small town politics gone awry, and the beginning of a new chapter for the town. It's a good read.
Related stories: http://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2013/03/27/kesslerstate-agency-rules-in-favor-of-gold-cross/