Elmy quits Luzerne County job, can’t yet claim pension

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Pink Floyd tribute experience Brit Floyd playing Wilkes-Barre venue F.M. Kirby Center

WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A newly disclosed proposal from a private company to take over the city&#8217;s ambulance service contradicts public statements made by its president at a city council meeting earlier this week.The Times Leader obtained copies of pages of the plan, proposed by Trans-Med Ambulance Inc., that would eliminate the city&#8217;s own emergency medical services, retaining other municipalities&#8217; services as backups under a regional mutual-aid agreement.&#8220;All City of Wilkes-Barre employees impacted by the future state of EMS response will be offered employment with Trans-Med,&#8221; the plan said.Trans-Med president Homer Berlew <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/528376/wilkes-barre-mayor-sticking-with-change-to-backup-ambulance-plan-dismisses-councils-opposition" target="_blank">did not discuss the potential takeover at Monday night&#8217;s meeting </a>when questioned by council Chairman Bill Barrett. Berlew limited his comments to the designation of the for-profit company as the primary backup ambulance service in the city effective April 15, a move council opposed with a non-binding resolution.&#8220;Was there discussion about anything taking place after the April 15 (start date) further down the road?&#8221; Barrett asked.&#8220;No,&#8221; Berlew answered. &#8220;Actually, what we&#8217;re waiting for right now is we&#8217;re waiting for some input from the 911 center to finalize positions of units, designated units for the city. And we also are looking for some data that we can determine how many units really should be designated to the city from our staff.&#8221;Berlew also told a Times Leader reporter afterward the discussions were for the backup service.&#8220;Basically we had one meeting about the proposal, and then we had a second meeting to look at logistics. And that was it,&#8221; Berlew said.He did not respond to a message left Thursday at Trans-Med&#8217;s corporate office in Luzerne.Mayor weighs inThe mayor, who did not attend Monday&#8217;s meeting, acknowledged Trans-Med submitted a proposal along with Commonwealth Health Emergency Medical Services about providing ambulance service in the city. But he added the immediate focus is on the mutual aid agreement.&#8220;Like I said, nothing&#8217;s off the books. But I&#8217;d rather check and see if it&#8217;s viable. If it&#8217;s not, it&#8217;s not going to be done,&#8221; George said of the backup change involving Trans-Med. &#8220;Right now, the ambulance system&#8217;s working. The only thing is we have to have the money to pay for it.&#8221;He is considering layoffs, including eliminating the city&#8217;s ambulance service to cut costs after being handed a $51.5 million balanced budget he criticized for having unrealistic revenue projections. George tried to amend the budget with a tax increase but the council refused.&#8220;What it comes down to is finances,&#8221; George said. &#8220;What we could afford, what the taxpayers could afford, and as long as the service remains the same, the priority is the public safety.&#8221;Last year, the city lost money on the ambulance service and that&#8217;s factoring into the fees charged, George said. According to its draft financial report for December 2015, the city collected approximately $1.15 million in reimbursements for the ambulance service. The city budgeted $1.35 million, according to the report.He rattled off numbers to show the cost of the service.&#8220;You got the driver, you have a paramedic, both making $70,000, and that&#8217;s $140,000. Tack on another $25,000 or $30,000 for insurance and workman&#8217;s comp and that&#8217;s $100,000,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So if you have 16 people, that&#8217;s $1.6 million, plus the expenses from the ambulance, supplies and people on workman&#8217;s comp.&#8221;The mayor designated <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/524812/aambulanceplan-changesquestioned" target="_blank">Trans-Med as the primary backup</a> when the city&#8217;s two ambulances are unavailable, saying it&#8217;s easier for 911 to dispatch one ambulance and the company has the lowest rates of the backups. Trans-Med has been participating in the 4&#189;-year-old agreement as a primary backup, along with Hanover and Plains townships and Kingston. With Trans-Med&#8217;s move to the primary backup, the others dropped to secondary status.For the first time Thursday, George disclosed that Commonwealth Health Emergency Services will serve as the third backup, replacing Trans-Med.&#8220;So we have more ambulance coverage now,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t see why anybody&#8217;s complaining about this.&#8221;Opposition continuesStill, Barrett said he and the other council members are <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/527171/no-need-to-fix-current-backup-ambulance-place-for-wilkes-barre-says-city-council-head" target="_blank">united in their opposition</a> to what the mayor is doing.&#8220;We&#8217;re going into dangerous territory here. This is untested,&#8221; Barrett stressed. &#8220;It&#8217;s not someplace that we need to be going.&#8221;Councilwoman Beth Gilbert released a copy of the letter she sent to the mayor asking him to reconsider.&#8220;City council, the public, and our EMS workers have spoken regarding whether or not this new plan should be implemented, and the answer is a resounding no,&#8221; she said.The city&#8217;s chief paramedic and 16-year-veteran, Michael Stadulis, stood with the council against the change.A firefighter/emergency medical technician drives the ambulance and a paramedic is in the back with a a patient, said Stadulis, union steward with Laborers International Local 1310 representing the paramedics. &#8220;We&#8217;re the provider for the patient right through for every call, where Trans-Med may not be. It may be just an emergency medical technician,&#8221; Stadulis said.He disputed the mayor&#8217;s comments that Trans-Med charges the lowest rates after<a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/527171/no-need-to-fix-current-backup-ambulance-place-for-wilkes-barre-says-city-council-head" target="_blank"> George provided a rate chart</a> showing Trans-Med&#8217;s fees for non-emergency and emergency care.&#8220;Anything dispatched through the 911 center is considered emergency, so therefore, non-emergency rates should not be quoted at all,&#8221; Stadulis said.The city does not charge for all calls, adhering to guidance from city administrators issued long ago that it was &#8220;unethical&#8221; to issue a bill when no one was taken to the hospital, he explained.Greg Freitas, vice president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 104, challenged the mayor&#8217;s statements that there is no contract for the backup service.&#8220;You could avoid calling this a contract all you want. He has an agreement. He&#8217;s making an agreement with a for-profit entity that he claims is cheaper than our ambulances with our pricings set in the city charter,&#8221; Freitas said.Stadulis urged the public to get involved.&#8220;I think the part that hits home for me, the people really need to make a decision here,&#8221; said Stadulis. &#8220;It&#8217;s their ambulance. They need to know what&#8217;s going on. It&#8217;s here for them. It&#8217;s been here for them. It&#8217;s proven.&#8221;<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Plan called for firing Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s employees</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Jerry Lynottjlynott@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</shirttailMeta></div>

Documents reveal Trans-Med had proposed privatizing Wilkes-Barre’s emergency medical services