Hospital offers to manage JEMS

Jay Emergency Medical Service could be seeing new management in 2017.
Jay County Hospital submitted a proposed two-year agreement this morning to Jay County Commissioners that would allow the hospital to take over in a management capacity for the service that has struggled financially in the past few years.
Jay County Hospital Board approved the proposal prior to the commissioners’ meeting and commissioners have taken the offer under advisement, in part to allow county council to review and discuss it.
“I don’t want to put council on the spot. OK, we did this. Now you guys have to do this,” said commissioner Jim Zimmerman.
Council meets Wednesday and commissioners indicated they’d bring the matter back up next week.
The proposed management agreement comes as the service’s current director, Pat Frazee, is set to retire at the end of the year.
If approved by the county, the agreement would be effective Jan. 1 and Jay County Hospital would employ a manager for JEMS.
The manager would report to JCH’s emergency department director as well as the county, hospital CEO Dave Hyatt told commissioners Faron Parr, Doug Inman and Zimmerman.
All other employees would remain county employees.
Hospital attorney John Coldren said this morning that the proposed agreement also includes a provision that would let Jay County Hospital share in profits the service might reap.
However, Hyatt said the hospital’s goal is not to make money, but rather make sure JEMS remains a good service for the county.
JEMS was $146,817 in the red in 2015, and has been helped via the rainy day fund ($300,000 in 2010, $400,000 in 2014 and $44,098 annually for a paramedic salary and benefits since February 2014).
“I think we can help them improve the culture and just improve operations in general. I do not expect this to be profitable for Jay County Hospital,” Hyatt told Hospital Board.
“Again this is one of those that the board would want to consider based purely on our mission of improving the health of those we serve and one part of that is also access,” he said.
At the commissioners’ meeting, Inman stressed the need to act quickly and prudently on the matter.
He also mentioned an email last week from Portland Mayor Randy Geesaman stating that Lutheran Air might want to talk about a management agreement as well.
“I don’t know how that even plays into this situation,” said Inman. “Me personally, I think the best thing we can do right now is hire Jay County Hospital to manage it.”
If JCH’s proposal is approved by the county, Hyatt said the hospital would post the open manager position immediately and begin the recruitment process with both internal and external candidates.
“Finding the right person is not going to be easy,” Hyatt said, adding the interview process could take awhile.
Monday’s proposal follows Jay County Hospital’s decision earlier this year to conduct a financial and operational analysis of JEMS.
At an August commissioners’ meeting, Hyatt described the review as one that would examine data to see what improvements and efficiencies can be made and to “give you guys some good data to make decisions around JEMS so you really know what’s going on there.”
The analysis is still on-going, Hyatt said Monday.