There is a dispute brewing in the Katy area between the non-profit, volunteer-staffed West Harris County EMS and paid officials in the Harris County Emergency Service District 48.
Harris County officials announced in August that the volunteer contract would be cancelled for the 29-year-old “911” ambulance services provided by the WHCEMS.
But the Harris County ESD48 intends to consolidate the services with West 1-10 Fire Department to provide future services, officials said. The two entities are currently housed in the same facility at 1773 Westgreen Blvd., in Katy.
As you can imagine, the news is not going over well with the approximate 100 volunteers who currently run the service. They say they are waging a public fight to keep it going. WHCEMS currently provides services to thousands of Katy area residents in Harris County and in some neighborhoods in Fort Bend County as well, officials said.
The 75 or so neighborhoods and apartment complexes served by WHCEMS include Green Trails, Kelliwood, Nottingham Country, Williamsburg Colony, and parts of Cinco Ranch. Please contact me – helen.eriksen@chron.com – if you would like a complete list.
The President of the WHCEMS Marc Albea said (in a press release) that he believes the five commissioners of the Harris County Emergency Service District 48 (ESD48), which issues the contract, “voted to end our contract effective January 1, 2010 purely for political reasons.”
The ESD 48 commissioners instead appointed the West 1-10 to create a new EMS Division, Albea said.
“Our expertly trained and dedicated volunteers and staff have provided round-the-clock care for our friends and neighbors for almost three decades, yet most Katy-area residents have no idea what’s on the horizon. We want to continue serving our district and give residents a chance to voice their opinion to elected officials,” Albea said.
“We believe that the ESD 48 Commissioners believe they can turn a pure taxpayer expense – the Fire Department – into a profit center. We believe we deserve to continue serving local residents, but we also fear that the transition to an untested unproven EMS service more vulnerable to politics,” Albea said.
According to this Channel 13 story , the Harris County-ESD 48 says the decision is a matter of “accountability and transparency.” You can read the entire story here
Further, the Harris County officials complained that the WHCEMS hasn’t “provided a requested audit of their expenses.” According to the story :
"I can understand why they would want to maintain that independence and that would have been possible had we been able to see the audits and had we been assured of and received the service that we requested," said Darrell Glueck of the Harris Co. Emergency Services District 48.
Albea addressed his concerns in a letter to the Harris County ESD 48 on Friday. He also addresses the issue of “taxpayer expense in a time of economic uncertainty.”
He wrote: “Spending our neighbors’ tax dollars on something they don’t need – because they already have it – is a shameful waste of their money and their trust. I submit that when the citizens ... learn that you intend to spend upwards of $2 to $3 million of their tax money on the creation of an unnecessary EMS division as well as unnecessary fire fighting apparatus, they will not be pleased.”
For more information about the efforts to keep the WHCEMS in service, check out the newly launched Web site at www.saveourems.org . The website gives several options for how citizens can show their support. There is also a Facebook page setup, which is accessible from this Web site.
Are any of you affected by this controversy? If so, what do you intend to do, if anything? What do you think of this dispute? How do you think it will play out?
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Comments
We need to know the truth
Somehow all of the facts surrounding this issue need to be brought to the surface. Everyone, especially the citizens in the affected service area, needs to know what is going on, and why.
Concerned citizen
WHCEMS
WHCEMS is a cash cow. The organization has been completely self financing without requiring one dime of tax payer money up until this last year. The money comes from patient insurance, medicare/medicaid payments for service, and contributions from the local MUD's. The ESD requested (not in the contract) that WHCEMS run one more ambulance, and if that were done, the ESD would pay the cost of that ambulance. With this money came many new requirements. (loss of independence) The vast majority of fire department calls are for EMS. Fire departments throughout the Country are finding it difficult to justify their existence/cost by the few fire calls they receive. Fire Departments are absorbing EMS departments because they need the EMS group to justify the enormous about of money required to fund the fire department. West I-10 Fire Department has many problems. As one example, look at the new fire station # 4 on Franz Rd and the time it took for completion. The volunteers of West I-10 FD also have an abysmal response time. The ESD admits that WHCEMS is doing a good job of providing EMS care to the citizens of West Houston. WHCEMS has NEVER been sued for malpractice. WHCEMS has some of the most modern equipment and advanced medical protocols in the Houston area. This EMS coverage, up until recently, cost the citizens nothing. The ESD is in the process of spending millions of our tax dollars to start a new EMS service. It is doubtful they will be ready to start on January 1, 2010. Taxes WILL go up. The ESD Commissioners (the majority were voted in office with less than 50 votes) are after more power and control and it will be the taxpayers that pay for this.
Service areas
I have sent several people the service areas affected. Please let me know if there is any other data you need.
Inside Katy
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