EMSA in OKC, Tulsa's helping out. I'm sure OKC would do the same

[nathanm]

I am one of the dozen or so people in the world that believe seat belts are able to help a driver maintain control of their vehicle in the event of a surprise.  Airbags should be the last resort.

I should clarify that I'm actually in complete agreement with you on the seat belt thing. My earlier post was a sarcastic joke.

I'm lucky in that I'm young enough that all cars had belts by the time I was old enough to remember anything and my parents made me use them, so they don't bug me in the least. Well, I take that back. I don't think my dad's early 60s Cadillac soft top (powder blue and longer than most boats) had belts in the back. Heck, it might not have had them in the front. I don't recall, as he got rid of it when I was 6 or so.

[Red Arrow]

I should clarify that I'm actually in complete agreement with you on the seat belt thing. My earlier post was a sarcastic joke.

I'm lucky in that I'm young enough that all cars had belts by the time I was old enough to remember anything and my parents made me use them, so they don't bug me in the least. Well, I take that back. I don't think my dad's early 60s Cadillac soft top (powder blue and longer than most boats) had belts in the back. Heck, it might not have had them in the front. I don't recall, as he got rid of it when I was 6 or so.

I thought you might have been being a bit sarcastic but I have met too many people that really seem to believe that airbags eliminate the need for seatbelts.

"They" didn't call some of those cars land yachts without reason.  I too think that early 60s GM had seat belts in the front but not the back seat.  I know mom's '63 and dad's '62 Chevy Bel-Air had belts in the front but I don't remember belts in the back. By '66, I think they were standard front and back.

[Townsend]

My dad was in a head-on collision when I was a teenager (actually the day I got my driver's license) when a driver crossed lanes around a snow covered curve in upstate NY. 

Off topic but anywhere close to Oneonta?

[heironymouspasparagus]

LOL. Have you ever been in an accident and had the air bag deploy? Talk about something freaky. And the smell reminded me of gunpowder.

Not sure about today's cars, but there used to be a small 'gunpowder' charge in past. 

Hope you are well and recover soon!!!  It just wouldn't be as much fun without you to pick at....

[heironymouspasparagus]

I should clarify that I'm actually in complete agreement with you on the seat belt thing. My earlier post was a sarcastic joke.

I'm lucky in that I'm young enough that all cars had belts by the time I was old enough to remember anything and my parents made me use them, so they don't bug me in the least. Well, I take that back. I don't think my dad's early 60s Cadillac soft top (powder blue and longer than most boats) had belts in the back. Heck, it might not have had them in the front. I don't recall, as he got rid of it when I was 6 or so.

'61 Chevy had them front and back, but was an option you had to order.  (How stupid was that??)  The belts were probably there, just fallen down behind the seat.  '61 Cadillac had the mounting holes factory installed - they were there under the carpet, but the belts were an option that was often offered by the dealers as a high margin upgrade.

[Red Arrow]

Off topic but anywhere close to Oneonta?

I think it was near Syracuse.  L O N G time ago.

[Townsend]

EMSA Board to Discuss Audit Tomorrow

http://kwgs.com/post/emsa-board-discuss-audit-tomorrow

The EMSA Board of Trustees holds a meeting halfway between its two divisions tomorrow. The board will meet in Stroud to discuss a recent state audit.

The audit, from State Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones,  was highly critical of the ambulance service and its spending habits. The audit also blasted the service's  chief officer Steve Williamson for extravagant spending and disregard for tax payers.

EMSA Board Chair Lillian Perryman says some things could have been handled differently and the board will look at best practice policies.  She says patient care was never compromised and the service did nothing illegal.

EMSA has two division, one here in Tulsa were the service was founded. The other is in Oklahoma City, where it expanded in the 1990s.

[Conan71]

EMSA is going to stick it to Tulsa again, for legal defense fees, while OKC sits this one out.

Why has the EMSA board not dispatched with Steve Williamson?  This guy is clearly either crooked or grossly incompetent.

EMSA approves $400 hike in ambulance transport fee to fund lawsuit defense

Price increase would help pay for lawsuit defense

By Curtis Killman Tulsa World Aug 23, 2017 Updated 8 hrs ago 8
The board that runs the Emergency Medical Services Authority approved a $400 increase in the price of an emergency transport in the Tulsa area Wednesday to help offset increased costs, including legal fees associated with defending the agency in a federal kickbacks lawsuit.

The Board of Trustees voted to increase the emergency ambulance transport fee 31 percent, taking it from $1,300 to $1,700, for the Eastern Division of EMSA's jurisdiction.

The Eastern Division includes Tulsa and three suburbs.

The rate, to be effective Sept. 1, would have to be approved by the Tulsa City Council to become final.

The transport fee increase does not require the approval of city councils in the other member cities in the Eastern Division — Bixby, Jenks and Sand Springs, EMSA spokeswoman Kelli Bruer said.

The emergency transport rate will remain $1,300 in the Western Division, which includes Oklahoma City and suburbs.

EMSA typically reviews rates every four or five years, Bruer said. The last rate increase occurred in 2012.

Bruer said EMSA had planned to request an increase in transport rates or utility fees for the Tulsa area in fiscal year 2019. But unanticipated legal fees associated with the agency's defense in the lawsuit necessitated the need to move the request up one year.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Sherman, Texas, announced in January that it had joined with a whistleblower's lawsuit that alleges that EMSA and EMSA President and CEO Stephen Williamson conspired with a former ambulance contractor to violate anti-kickback statutes and the federal False Claims Act.

The complaint alleges that a Texas hospital and ambulance provider functioned as Williamson's "all purpose slush fund" to pay for gifts, spa treatments, campaign contributions and travel, among other items.

The lawsuit claims that the so-called "pay to play" scheme violated anti-kickback statutes and the False Claims Act, costing taxpayers "tens of millions" of dollars over a six-year period ending in 2013.

The Tulsa World reported Wednesday that EMSA has spent nearly $2 million in legal costs to mount a defense in the federal case in Texas, along with defense costs associated with another civil case making similar allegations in Tulsa federal court

A memo sent to EMSA Board of Trustee members explaining the need for the rate increase indicates that legal fees are expected to increase $2.4 million in fiscal year 2018 over the previous year.

The agency cited increased capital costs and employee compensation/benefits for nonmanagement personnel as other reasons for the rate hike.

"No rate increase is budgeted for the Western Division as Oklahoma City has left all utility funds received in the utility fund," EMSA Chief Financial Officer Kent Torrence said in a memo to board members regarding the rate increase.

The city of Tulsa, meanwhile, has drawn $6.6 million from the utility fund for non-EMSA needs, Torrence said.

The memo refers to funds collected by Tulsa and Oklahoma City through a monthly, voluntary utility fee. Both Oklahoma City and Tulsa collect a monthly fee from their utility customers to pay their share of the costs for ambulance service.

The monthly fee, paid through monthly utility bills, is $3.65 in Oklahoma City and $5.45 in Tulsa and its involved suburbs.

Payment of the monthly fee enrolls households in the EMSACare program, which covers all out-of-pocket costs of emergency transports for its members.

EMSA's total costs are split between the two divisions based on a formula that calls for the Western Division to pay 53 percent of the total costs.

The rate increase would most heavily affect about 17 percent of EMSA's patients — those not on the EMSACare program.

Bruer said private insurance typically pays all but about 20 percent of an ambulance transport bill but that the actual amount owed can vary based on a patient's coverage.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/emsa-approves-hike-in-ambulance-transport-fee-to-fund-lawsuit/article_209cd5ad-fdf8-5d70-ae4a-fad3275bfffc.html

[cannon_fodder]

Time  for the Tulsa Fire Department to get back in the game.

[Conan71]

We've talked about this before, perhaps it is time for Tulsa to think about moving paramedic services to the TFD.  So basically, the executive director of EMSA can simply apologize for his lavish spending and corrupt activity and all is well with the EMSA board.  According to one of the stories, the kickbacks amounted to $20 million.  So why is EMSA trying to stick the citizens of Tulsa with the tab?  This stinks.

Charges filed in kickback case:

http://www.newson6.com/story/34326162/federal-prosecutors-charge-emsa-ceo-in-kickback-scheme-in-texas

2013 Audit reveals pattern of inappropriate spending at EMSA:

http://www.newson6.com/story/21418347/emsa-ceo-apologizes-for-scrutiny-brought-by-auditors-report

OKC Councilor says EMSA should be disbanded and Williamson fired.  Story also reveals EMSA hid the federal investigation from OKC and Tulsa officials for months:

http://newsok.com/article/5535562

[TeeDub]

I'm more happy than ever that at least Broken Arrow doesn't use those crooks.

[swake]

Time  for the Tulsa Fire Department to get back in the game.

Agreed.

[Breadburner]

Some of the paramedics and emt's with EMSA are mental pygmy's...

[Conan71]

The Council decided not to vote on the issue of the rate increase last night.  I was not aware that Phil Lakin sits on the EMSA Board of Trustees as the nominee from the Tulsa City Council.

I like Phil, but I question why he didn't nut up and tell the rest of the trustees Tulsa and the surrounding communities should not be stuck shouldering the entire rate increase for the alleged malfeasance of EMSA management.  I also feel like with Phil's influence on other City Councilors this will come to pass.

Councilor Ewing asked what would happen if EMSA loses the lawsuit and he was told it was likely EMSA would file bankruptcy.

EMSA certainly has a problem on its hands, but I fail to see why it is incumbent upon the citizens covered by EMSA's eastern district to shoulder the costs.  Why EMSA's board hasn't waylaid Steve Williamson already just baffles me.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/government/city-council-ponders-emsa-rate-increase-request-but-delays-action/article_d18ce468-1c9d-578e-8585-098be7e8bb66.html

[Hoss]

The Council decided not to vote on the issue of the rate increase last night.  I was not aware that Phil Lakin sits on the EMSA Board of Trustees as the nominee from the Tulsa City Council.

I like Phil, but I question why he didn't nut up and tell the rest of the trustees Tulsa and the surrounding communities should not be stuck shouldering the entire rate increase for the alleged malfeasance of EMSA management.  I also feel like with Phil's influence on other City Councilors this will come to pass.

Councilor Ewing asked what would happen if EMSA loses the lawsuit and he was told it was likely EMSA would file bankruptcy.

EMSA certainly has a problem on its hands, but I fail to see why it is incumbent upon the citizens covered by EMSA's eastern district to shoulder the costs.  Why EMSA's board hasn't waylaid Steve Williamson already just baffles me.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/government/city-council-ponders-emsa-rate-increase-request-but-delays-action/article_d18ce468-1c9d-578e-8585-098be7e8bb66.html

I say let them file bankruptcy.