The Villages Daily Sun

OCALA — The Marion County Board of County Commission approved an organizational structure Tuesday morning that will merge ambulance services into the county fire department.

The proposed organizational structure passed by a 4-to-1 vote, with Commissioner Andy Kesselring dissenting. The new system, which will take effect Oct. 1, dissolves the Marion County Emergency Medical Services Alliance and combines all of the county’s ambulances under the umbrella of Marion County Fire-Rescue, said MCFR Chief Stuart McElhaney.

During the next three years, the proposal will create 254 new positions in MCFR, 236 of which will work specifically on the emergency medical services side of the department; and will add four new ambulances, two more each during peak and non-peak hours, said MCFR spokeswoman Heather Danenhower.

This decision comes after nearly a year of discussions on the proposal. Last April, commission Chairman Charlie Stone appointed a five-member task force to decide the best method of providing ambulance services to residents, because EMSA’s five-year contract is set to expire Sept. 30.

By late 2007, facing budget cuts, Munroe Regional Medical Center, Ocala Regional Medical Center and the city of Ocala, three of the four groups that formerly provided about $4.5 million of EMSA’s funding, announced that they would not renew their contract, and the task force was faced with three possible solutions: organize EMSA into its own county department, merge it into MCFR, or privatize it.

In mid-January, the county commissioners voted 4-to-1 to begin to transition EMSA into MCFR, and a transition team was formed.

“We’re looking at increasing the level of service … with a lower total cost,” McElhaney said.

And cost was an issue that consumed much of Tuesday’s discussion of the proposal.

“Most people don’t want to increase services if it means an increase in cost,” Kesselring said.

But according to McElhaney, the cost will drop, not increase. By combining the two emergency-response agencies, the cost to run the ambulance service will decrease from about $20 million to $17.5 million to $18.5 million, thus eliminating the deficit that resulted after EMSA lost financial support from local groups, Danenhower explained.

“This is going to be better, and this is going to be more effective,” McElhaney said.

However, not everyone was pleased with the outcome of Tuesday’s vote.

A number of EMSA employees attending the meeting were upset that an organizational structure was approved before job descriptions and pay scales were developed.

“It didn’t address the key issues,” said Bret Cyr, vice president of the local International Association of EMTs and Paramedics. “The proposal is watering down the medical mission (of EMTs and paramedics).”

Danenhower, however, saw the situation differently. All firefighters with MCFR are either certified EMTs or paramedics who received the same training as EMSA members.

“Our firefighters have the same training as any EMTs,” Danenhower said, adding that the firefighters may not practice the techniques as often as someone who works on an ambulance, but the certification process is identical.

Other EMSA employees said they were concerned about practical matters such as job loss and retirement, despite reassurances from McElhaney and the commissioners’ commitment to do no harm to the financial security of EMSA employees.

“This is the first time they (the commissioners) have turned their back on EMSA … nobody is paying any attention anymore,” said Robert Brill, who has been working for the Marion County ambulance service since it was created.

“We’re not being heard,” agreed Lisa McLarney, an EMT who has been with EMSA since it formed five years ago. “The only people (the transition) is seamless to are the people we pick up.”

Both McElhaney and Danenhower stressed that all 220 current full-time employees of EMSA could have a job with MCFR.

“They’ll all be given preference in the hiring process,” Danenhower said.

However, current EMSA employees will have to go through the regular county hiring process, and all but 48 of them will be required to get their fire certification in the next three years.

“I think it provides them with a much greater career opportunity than they already have,” McElhaney said.

However, EMSA employees such as Cyr said the merger is forcing him and his co-workers to do something they have no interest in doing.

“I don’t know very many people who want to put the two together,” he said.

But for now, despite the resistance, details of pay and job descriptions will be ironed out over the next several months as MCFR prepares to absorb EMSA.

Katie Tammen is a reporter with the Daily Sun. She can be reached at 753-1119, ext. 9264, or katie.tammen@thevillagesmedia.com.