Some principles of the proposed plan for ambulance service to be developed over the next three months are:

• A high quality service that meets the needs of patients, communities, staff and hospital.

• A single regional program; one name, one set of policies and procedures, one senior leader, one governance structure, one set of performance guidelines, one wage and benefit system, one type of contract.

• Reduce from five to four ambulance sites by combining operations in northern Franklin County.

• If northern tier towns insist on operation of three separate bases, and are willing to pay the necessary higher subsidies, the hospital will operate all three sites.

• The combined new service will be financially break-even and Franklin Memorial Hospital will derive no profit from the service.

• Subsidies will be required because patient fees will not be adequate to pay total costs.

• New contracts will be based on a fixed amount of subsidy.

• Towns will not be at risk for future assessments.

• Contracts will be for three-year periods with three-month unconditional cancellation clauses.

• Hospital seeks broad approval and contract acceptance by towns and the public.

• Hospital will collaborate, but will provide leadership to achieve acceptance of a new regional plan.

• Hospital many not be able to achieve agreement with everyone.

• If a town or group of towns choose not to participate, or participate and later withdraw, the consequences will be defined and explicit, so residents and town officials have the facts before they choose.

Fact sheet
• Solid high quality staff and service sustained through tough times.

• Flexible scheduling – hospital’s emergency medical services consists of 109 highly trained staff, including drivers, emergency medical technicians and paramedics.

• Group purchasing – about 20 percent savings.

• Highly trained billing department.

• Decreased base supervisors from five to three, saving $30,000.

• Streamlined communication with medical staff.

• System backup during periods of high call volume, including equipment.

• Systemwide specialized training.

• Improved grant access-AmeriCorp, Medical Corp.

• System subsidy savings of approximately $1.5 million.

• Increased staffing system wide.

• Regional Advisory Board for Northern Tier.

Source: Franklin Memorial Hospital.