Stanislaus County leaders move forward with an in-house agency to monitor EMS system
Stanislaus County supervisors are expected to introduce an ordinance Tuesday evening to establish fees for an in-house emergency medical services agency.
The county served notice in March 2021 it was withdrawing from the Mountain-Valley EMS Agency composed of Stanislaus, Calaveras, Mariposa, Amador and Alpine counties.
The county will operate its own EMS agency as a division of the Sheriff’s Department. The regulatory fees charged to ambulance providers and hospitals will cover costs of monitoring ambulance service, trauma centers and other components of the EMS system.
The board will consider the fees at a 6:30 p.m. public hearing Tuesday.
Most of the fees, from employee accreditations to costs for field handbooks, will stay within the Mountain-Valley EMS current cost structure, with a 12% hike based on cost-of-living adjustments. The Mountain-Valley agency had not adjusted many fees in the past three years, a county staff report says.
Hospitals could pay substantially higher fees for heart attack specialty centers, a $16,500 increase, and stroke centers, a $40,000 increase, because of the workload of monitoring and coordinating those centers. The fee for a Level II trauma center could increase by $78,490.
Review of county islands
On Monday, the Board of Supervisors will continue a series of exploratory meetings in the field to look at the needs of county islands.
Board members will hear a Public Works presentation at Oregon Park in the airport neighborhood at 9 a.m. before going to what’s known as the “Sylvan Island” near Beyer Park in Modesto at 10 a.m.
The final stop will be Oasis of Hope Church on Claus Road, where supervisors will learn about service needs in the east Riverbank unincorporated area.
The Board of Supervisors held special meetings May 5 in neighborhoods of west and south Modesto and Ceres.
Board Chairman Terry Withrow said the unincorporated islands are lacking curb, gutter, sidewalks, water hookups and wastewater service.
The county has documented about $650 million in infrastructure needs in county islands.
The board has designated $50 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan to make improvements. It’s possible the county can leverage more funds from state and federal sources to address more of the needs.
The county Board of Supervisors will hold its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the meeting chambers at Tenth Street Place, at 1010 10th St., Modesto.
This story was originally published May 15, 2022 at 10:04 AM.
