Wvw, Hoban To Decide Wvc Championship

Adele Jancik 
Feb. 11, 1994 
Adele Jancik, Of Third Avenue, Kingston, Died Friday In Summit Health Care 
Center, Wilkes-barre.

Sunday, February 13, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A QUICK WORDS: AMBULANCES ARE RACING
FOR BUSINESS 





2-13 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For 1A &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ambulance &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 (Continued from Page 1A) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 AMBULANCE, Page 18A &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Ambulances are racing for business, but state will call it a draw &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Designated territories are expected to put an end to fierce competition
among emergency services &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 By JENNIFER LEARN &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Times Leader Hazleton Bureau &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 HAZLETON -- Verna Bacsick pays the West Hazleton Ambulance Service $20 a
year to be her family's ambulance service. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She expects the ambulance service to send help if she calls, and she has
been promised emergency response at no extra cost. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But if Bacsick, a resident of Hazle Township's Ridgewood section, calls the
police or emergency dispatch center and doesn't specify she wants a West
Hazleton ambulance, another company might respond and bill her for the call. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 With six ambulance services vying for a share of the emergency medical
service from McAdoo to Freeland to West Hazleton, the competition has both
volunteer and private companies scrambling for business. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For residents like Bacsick, the competition can be confusing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "There is a potential for double billing. Someone might be paying to the
Hazleton volunteer fund drive or West Hazleton fund drive, but they might not
end up with either one when they call for an emergency," said Ron Lashock,
president of the West Hazleton Community Ambulance Association. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 About mid-March, Emergency Medical Services of Northeastern Pennsylvania --
the branch of the state Department of Health that oversees ambulance companies
-- will divvy up the Hazleton area among the competing ambulance companies,
EMS Director John E. Campos of Pittston said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We're doing this because there has been some concern and controversy over
who is the appropriate service to be dispatched. We're trying to resolve these
issues so patient care is not adversely affected," Campos said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The new divisions will end some of the disagreements the companies have
over which service gets called to which area. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In the last three years since Medical Transport Ambulance Service and
Hazleton Area Transfer Service have been vying for emergency calls, arguments
have erupted when more than one ambulance responds to an emergency call. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Ambulance drivers would arrive to the scene of the call. When they'd see
the other service there, a dispute would begin, a couple ambulance operators
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Ambulance representatives have met several times to discuss problems, but
heated verbal disagreements overshadowed the meetings, one operator said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But residents always can specify an ambulance service for emergencies or
routine transfers -- and the new divisions won't eliminate problems that
develop when a resident who is a member of one association is served by
another ambulance company. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 To Bacsick, a volunteer at the Hazle Township Senior Citizens Center,
response time is the primary concern. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "When it comes down to it, the only reason I'd call an ambulance is when
someone is seriously ill, so prompt service is the most important quality to
me." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Sharing the pie &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 To understand the territories, think of the Hazleton area as a pie. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 EMS will split the pie among six state-licensed ambulance companies: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Four volunteer services -- Hazleton, McAdoo, Freeland and West Hazleton,
and two private services -- Medical Transport Ambulance Service of Hazle
Township and Hazleton Area Transfer Service of Hazleton. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The state territories define which ambulance company will be called first
when someone from any piece of the pie calls the police or emergency
dispatcher for medical help. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Most of the boundary changes EMS expects to make will affect Hazle
Township, which does not have a volunteer state-licensed ambulance company,
Campos said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Before private -- or for-profit -- ambulance companies entered the scene,
the emergency response pie was shared among the volunteer ambulance
associations, said Pat Moran, an EMS program specialist in Harrisburg. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The first private ambulance company in the Hazleton area started business
about 20 years ago. Ed Balliet of Balliet Transfer Service said his concern
was primarily transfer of patients in non-emergencies. Balliet discontinued
his service in 1990. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Medical Transport and Hazleton Area Transfer Service have made the pie a
little bit more muddy," Moran said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 EMS will consider ambulance response times and availability to decide who
should be called to each piece of the pie. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 From the viewpoint of quality, EMS doesn't distinguish among the services.
According to federal regulations, ambulance personnel have to have a full crew
out the door heading to an emergency within 10 minutes from the time a call is
made, Campos said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "In our eyes all the licensed ambulance companies are equal. We can't get
involved in costs or whether a company is volunteer or for-profit. Our primary
concern is that the patient gets quality care," Campos said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It's also important to define territories so that two ambulance companies
don't respond to an emergency. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A few months ago, both the West Hazleton and Hazleton police departments
issued reminders to emergency personnel. The message was to take care for
safety's sake because the departments had received complaints from residents
about the danger racing ambulances could pose. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Private vs. volunteer &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 All six ambulance companies eligible to cover the Hazleton area provide
basic life-support care, defined as pre-hospital or inter-hospital emergency
medical care and management of illness or injury performed by specially
trained and certified or licensed personnel, Moran said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Billing is the main difference between private and volunteer ambulance
associations. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 This year, for example, the Hazleton Community Ambulance Association will
charge a membership fee of $7 per adult and $20 per family of three or more
adults over 18 living in the same home. There are no additional charges for
children. Subscribers are entitled to unlimited emergency calls to local
hospitals. Non-subscribers will be billed a minimum of $180 per emergency
call, ambulance association Secretary Ray Whiteknight said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Although Hazleton Community Ambulance does not bill a patient's insurance
carrier, some volunteer associations do. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 West Hazleton Ambulance Association charges a family subscription rate of
$20 and individual rates of $8. For these charges, subscribers do not have to
pay extra for emergency calls. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Meanwhile, residents -- or their insurance carriers -- are responsible for
paying emergency bills from private companies. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Medical Transport, for example, charges $225 for an emergency response, the
average rate in the Hazleton area for this service. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Larry Sidari, owner of Hazleton Area Transfer Service said both his service
and Medical Transport have relieved some strain on the volunteer ambulances by
covering routine transport services that the volunteer services cannot handle.
The private companies have more equipment and manpower than the volunteer
services. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A routine transport is a non-emergency trip from a patient's home or a
nursing home to a doctor's office or hospital. Many of those trips occur
during the day when volunteer emergency medical technicians are at work. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Our primary job is to complement the system. We're filling a gap," Sidari
said. "By using us for routine transport, they're not taxing volunteer
service, and when the volunteers are busy, they can call us to handle
emergencies." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Sidari estimated about 80 percent of his business is routine transfers,
while the other 20 percent is for emergency assistance. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Sidari said private companies also fill in on daytime calls when volunteer
companies have trouble staffing ambulances. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Hazleton Community Ambulance recently added a full-time emergency medical
technician -- its only paid employee -- to solve the problem during the day. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Big business &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 All ambulance companies except West Hazleton -- which wants more territory
in Hazle Township -- and Hazleton Area Transfer Service -- which has no
territory in Hazle Township -- are content with an arrangement hammered out
between the agencies about 20 years ago. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 At that time, the ambulance companies agreed to allow Bob Tarpchak,
then-owner of Medical Transport, to handle emergency calls in the Lattimer,
Pardeesville, Hollywood and Milnesville sections of Hazle Township for people
who didn't subscribe to a volunteer service, Whiteknight said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Bruce Slusser, current owner of Medical Transport, expected to continue
this arrangement when he took over the service in February 1990. But Slusser
says he has only received one or two calls for emergency service in his
sections of the township in 1993. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I have nothing against volunteers, but my response time is the best in
these sections of the township because we're right here with people manned in
the vehicle at all times," Slusser said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Because of personality frictions, peoples' lives are being jeopardized,"
Slusser said. He said he's afraid the arguments about which territory
ambulances should cover might waste time needed in answering an emergency
call. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Some ambulance companies are worried they won't be able to survive if the
state takes away a few bites of their territory pie. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Lashock said his company will have trouble staying afloat if the state
announces it won't be the first company called to medical emergencies in
sections of Hazle Township like Hollywood and Lattimer, where many people
subscribe to the West Hazleton Ambulance Association. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We stand to lose a tremendous amount of money in those areas, and we rely
on this money to survive," Lashock said. He estimates he'll lose $30,000 a
year in subscriber donations from residents in the sections of Hazle Township
technically covered by Medical Transport. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Whiteknight hopes to keep the areas of Hazle Township, where he has many
subscribers. Like West Hazleton, Hazleton volunteers will have a hard time
financially without them. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We really don't want any more of Hazle Township than we already have. As
far as we're concerned we're very content," Whiteknight said. "With the area
we have now, we're able to keep afloat and keep good trucks on the road." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Danny Bobby, vice chairman of the board and captain of the corps of the
Freeland Volunteer Ambulance Association, is pleased with the section of the
township he already has. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Lashock said ambulance service is a multimillion dollar operation in the
Hazleton area. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "The bottom line is that ambulance service is a big industry, and people
are looking for the money." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER/BOB ESPOSITO &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Several ambulance services work together during an evacuation of a nursing
home in October 1993.

2-13 
For 1a 
Ambulance 
(continued From Page 1a) 
Ambulance, Page 18a 
Ambulances Are Racing For Business, But State Will Call It A Draw 
Designated Territories Are Expected To Put An End

2-13 For 1a Ambulance (continued From Page 1a) Ambulance, Page 18a Ambulances Are Racing For Business, But State Will Call It A Draw Designated Territories Are Expected To Put An End