S.C. Agencies Move Forward with Unity Plan
Oct. 10--Representatives from Medshore Ambulance Service and the chiefs of Anderson County's nonprofit rescue squads said Friday that they are ready to get down to business.
They began forming committees to look at finances, legal considerations, assets, operations and other matters they will have to understand. Their goal: to create a single entity that answers all Anderson County residents' calls for emergency medical services.
"This is kind of the meat and potatoes," said Greg Shore, the CEO of Medshore. "We need to figure out what it takes to create a workable situation. We need to build a countywide system and build it with the resources we have."
Earlier this week, the Anderson County Council agreed to hire Fitch & Associates to do an in-depth analysis of all the squads the county contracts with to answer critical calls.
The county normally pays nonprofit rescue squads in Belton, Honea Path, Iva, Pelzer, Pendleton, Townville and Williamston and the private company Medshore a total of $4 million annually to handle emergency calls throughout the county. After officials determined that Williamston Emergency Medical Services was operating at least $300,000 in debt and could not make payroll, the county entered a contract with Medshore to provide temporary service in the town.
Believing that Fitch & Associates will recommend a unified system instead of one that involves multiple squads, the chiefs and Medshore are trying to come up with how to sketch out that single system by the time the consultants have their report prepared.
"We're at the point that we can't just talk about this anymore," said Scott Robinson, the chief of Belton Emergency Medical Services. "Once we're given homework assignments, we need to do them. We need to all be prepared so that we as a group can move forward with the best information available to us."
Representatives from AnMed Health Medical Center have also attended the group's last couple of meetings, and hospital employees Paul Hubbard and David Cothran have volunteered to serve on two of the committees created Friday.
Representatives of the hospital confirmed late last month that they have already begun formulating a plan of their own, outlining what AnMed would need to do to handle all of the county's calls for emergency medical services.
Representatives of Medshore and the rescue squads said they would like to have their joint plan ready before Christmas, in case the consulting firm's recommendations come out by then.
"It's time for us to tighten up our bootlaces and get to work," said Rodney Wilson, Medshore's chief compliance officer. "We need to focus on doing our best for our communities."
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