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Morrow County Health District giving 90 day notice to discontinue ambulance service
-Continued from PAGE ONE The current EMS Advisory peer-review information by Oregon law. Both the lish a system that closely MCHD, if necessary, be-
ers determined through an
application process, review,
and recommendation to the
Board of Commissioners.
:KLOH 0&+' KDV R൵HUHG
a preliminary proposal at
this time, no proposal has
been requested or submitted
by BFRD, but BFRD has
indicated a desire to apply.
What MCHD says:
Morrow County Health
District has made it clear
to Morrow County that
they cannot proceed under
a new ASA Plan without a
mutually agreeable service
contract, ASA Plan, and
Ordinance in place.
The County’s response:
MCHD has operated
ambulance services in the
County for decades with-
out a service contract. The
draft ASA will require a
service contract whether
there is a single or multiple
ambulance provider. This
protects the County, the
providers, and our residents
and visitors.
What MCHD says:
The composition of
the new EMS Advisory
Committee does not spe-
FL¿FDOO\LQFOXGHSDUDPHGLFV
or EMTs. Aside from the
supervising physicians,
none of the other commit-
tee members possess the
QHFHVVDU\ TXDOL¿FDWLRQV WR
oversee the care provided
by these professionals.
The County’s response:
MCHD currently utiliz-
es the EMS Advisory Com-
mittee as a forum to review
individual case issues and
as a peer review platform.
Committee membership is
RYHUZKHOPLQJO\ ¿OOHG E\
MCHD employees. Under
the new ASA document,
the EMS Advisory Com-
mittee would be reviewing
the ambulance providers’
overall operations rath-
er than individual worker
performance. As such, the
submitted ASA pulls from
an external pool of first
responder experts (appoint-
PHQWVIURPDOO¿UHGLVWULFWV
DQGRWKHUPHGLFDODQG¿UVW
response professionals to
provide an external review
to improve transparency
and accountability.
What MCHD says:
Morrow County has
also failed to specify a
process for investigating
medically related issues.
$GGLWLRQDOO\ FRQ¿GHQWLDO-
ity concerns surrounding
investigations and chart
reviews performed by the
EMS Advisory Committee
KDYH QRW EHHQ VX൶FLHQWO\
addressed. The maintenance
of peer review protections
requires a strict process for
HQVXULQJWKHFRQ¿GHQWLDOLW\
of records, as mandated
E\ 256 7KH SUR-
posed ASA Plan does not
provide adequate details
on this matter and simply
states that a process will be
developed.
The County’s response:
MCHD has asserted
that confidentiality safe-
guards and the process of
investigations have not
been fully outlined. All
pertinent state and feder-
al laws will be followed.
The removal of sensitive
from the EMS Advisory
Committee function and a
focus on OHA compliance
reports and general oper-
ations also alleviate these
concerns.
What MCHD says: The
proposed ASA Plan allows
the EMS Advisory Com-
mittee to submit reports to
SXEOLFR൶FLDOVDQGSHUPLWV
public officials to attend
executive sessions without
specifying safeguards for
confidential information
and executive sessions.
While Morrow Coun-
ty’s press release did not
VSHFL¿FDOO\ PHQWLRQ LW D
closer analysis of the latest
draft of the ASA reveals
several key points.
All investigations shall,
to the greatest extent al-
lowed by law, be conducted
SXUVXDQW WR 256
DQG256DQGPHG-
ical information shall be
further protected under the
Health Insurance Porta-
bility and Accountability
Act regulations and Ore-
gon Public Records laws.
Subject to approval by the
County Commissioners, the
QA Committee shall devel-
op and propose approval of
SURFHGXUHVWRHQVXUHFRQ¿-
dentiality under the above
provisions.
The EMS Advisory
Committee shall conduct
meetings in accordance
with the Oregon Public
Meetings laws and comply
with the Oregon public
records law, ORS Chapter
192. Executive sessions
closed to the public may
be held when authorized
records and minutes of
executive sessions shall be
handled to ensure patient
FRQ¿GHQWLDOLW\ LQ FRPSOL-
ance with state and federal
laws.
What MCHD says:
The proposed ASA
Plan includes a provision
that requires MCHD to
surrender its ambulances
and equipment to Morrow
&RXQW\ IRU DQ XQVSHFL¿HG
period of time if MCHD
vacates the ASA.
The latest draft of the
ASA includes a section
that pertains provider
vacating. However, this
particular aspect was not
mentioned or discussed in
Morrow County’s press
release.
A Provider that no lon-
ger provides ambulance
services will be required
to turn over their ambu-
lance(s) and equipment to
the Board for use until a
replacement service can be
established in the area. Rea-
sonable compensation will
be negotiated by the vacat-
ing Provider and the Board.
However, Oregon law may
not require payment for
the ambulances to another
entity taking over the ASA
Service Area. In the event
that the parties are unable
to agree on reasonable com-
pensation, either party may
request binding arbitration
through the Morrow Coun-
ty Circuit Court.
In a discussion with
Jensen, the county is still in
WKHSURFHVVRIUH¿QLQJWKH
language to ensure clarity.
The main goal is to estab-
resembles the language uti-
lized in the 1998 ASA and
aligns with the standards
set by the State. The goal of
this system is to prevent the
county from being exposed
to vulnerability in terms of
ambulance services, partic-
ularly in scenarios where
a service provider unex-
pectedly discontinues their
services.
What MCHD says:
Morrow County has
included a 35-mile bound-
ary between the service
area awarded to Boardman
Fire Rescue District and
the area to be served by
MCHD, seemingly to pre-
serve MCHD’s cost-based
reimbursement. MCHD
has requested information
on how this boundary was
determined, as it does not
appear to fall within the
legally mandated 35-mile
range. However, Morrow
County has not provided
this information.
The County’s response:
According to Jensen,
the required 35-mile range
is not measured by the
straight-line distance (as
WKH FURZ ÀLHV EXW UDWKHU
by the distance on drivable
roads. The county is still in
the process of identifying
DQG¿QDOL]LQJWKHVHURXWHV
One thing that should
be noted is that Jensen
acknowledged in his press
release that there was a
breakdown in communi-
cation with MCHD. He
stated, “There was a mis-
step or perhaps a misun-
derstanding. The County
had agreed to respond to
fore submitting the draft.
However, the County and
its Consultant had already
incorporated many of the
requested changes and be-
lieved it was important to
move the process forward
by sending the draft for re-
view and comment to OHA.
We had planned to com-
municate further regarding
MCHD’s comments while
the draft was under review.
Unfortunately, due to a
communication error on
the County’s part, MCHD
did not receive the expected
response. Both staff and
the County’s Consultant
take full responsibility for
this and apologize for the
confusion.”
To access the MCHD
press release, please visit
their website KWWSVZZZ
morrowcountyhealthdis-
WULFWRUJ or Facebook
page. For Morrow Coun-
ty’s counter press release,
\RXFDQ¿QGWKHIXOOVWDWH-
ment on Morrow County’s
ZHEVLWHVSHFL¿FDOO\XQGHU
the “news and announce-
ments” section. Addition-
DOO\ \RX FDQ DOVR ¿QG WKH
latest ASA draft plan on
Morrow County’s website
in the same location. KWWSV
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