Hospital, city reach deal on ambulance transport

A new agreement between Kalispell Regional Medical Center and the city of Kalispell could bring in $36,000 or more a year for an ailing city ambulance fund and provide the hospital with non-emergency transport service for patients.

Officials have been hammering out insurance issues for the past few months, but finally reached an agreement for the Kalispell Fire Department ambulance to make appointments with the hospital to transport its patients.

Northwest Healthcare, the hospital's parent company, negotiated transport for its eight locations - Kalispell Regional, HealthCenter Northwest, Pathways Treatment Center, the Cancer Center, Brendan House, Home Options, The Summit and Hospice.

The agreement limits runs to within five miles of Kalispell city limits.

It went into effect at midnight Tuesday after City Council members approved the agreement on Monday.

Acting Fire Chief Dan Diehl and interim City Manager Myrt Webb stressed that the new agreement will not change the department's top priority: Providing emergency services to the citizens of Kalispell.

The second priority will remain emergency EMS runs, with the pre-arranged hospital transports third in the pecking order.

The hospital has a similar agreement with Evergreen ambulance. Kalispell will provide service on odd-numbered days and Evergreen on even-numbered days, Webb said.

The hospital will pay $105 for a one-way transport; a return transport within an hour is included when necessary. If it's more than an hour but within eight hours, the transport and return trip will cost $150. If the patient's condition worsens on the trip and requires transport to the hospital, the ambulance will charge all costs associated with a medically necessary emergency call.

"For a small amount of input, we could get about $36,000 a year," Webb told the council.

It costs just under $1 million a year to operate and staff the city's ambulance service, he said, with very little extra cost incurred for expenses such as fuel for these non-emergency runs.

Diehl said Evergreen ambulance officials, which now handles Kalispell Regional transport calls, told him they typically handle six calls a day during the week and 10 calls a day on Saturdays and Sundays.

Council member Bob Hafferman refused to support the agreement, citing insufficient information in the council packet.

He wanted to know how many in-city calls are expected and how long each will take, and the same for out-of-city calls. He asked how many staffers respond and their salaries, and how city emergencies would be handled.

Hafferman demanded answers in writing and, after Webb answered several of his points verbally, refused to accept the information, calling it "a bunch of hooey."

Council member Tim Kluesner agreed that operation and implementation details need to be in writing. But, he added, "it's good to have an agreement."

Later, Hafferman said he wanted to study the figures.

"I want to know what the out-go is compared to the income, because I think we're headed the wrong way," he said. "Maybe we're not, but I want to know."

Diehl re-emphasized that non-emergency calls will take place only if no city emergencies need to be handled.

The city has four ambulances, he said, but only one is allowed out of the city at a time in order to maintain coverage for Kalispell citizens. Mutual agreements with neighboring cities help provide backup.

Of the four ambulances, Diehl explained, the city has staffing for two. If a third gets called out, it can be cross-staffed with fire department workers who have been trained for ambulance work. The fourth, he said, usually is in the shop for maintenance or repair.

"This is an easy one to support," Mayor Pam Kennedy said. "It's an easy way to bring in revenue."

"We can call on Evergreen [and other ambulance services' for backup," council member Hank Olson said. "Boy, what a wonderful way to get a few bucks."

The agreement was approved on a 5-1 vote, with Hafferman dissenting.

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com