Ada County Paramedics in the News

There has been a considerable amount of coverage lately regarding Ada County’s ambulance district and the Boise Fire Department’s apparent desire to get into the emergency medical transport business.

I am the Board liaison to our Ada County Paramedics (ACP) Department. I volunteered for this assignment because I am passionate about government providing the best possible service that can be attained at an affordable price in the vitally important field of emergency services.

The dedicated medics at ACP are led by an equally dedicated and forward-thinking director, Troy Hagen. Not only is Troy a longtime paramedic, he also has an MBA that is valuable for running the business side of the operation.

Since I took office, a number of changes have been implemented with regard to ACP. I have been attending monthly meetings of the Ada County Fire Chiefs' Association and believe much of the progress that has been made can be attributed to a renewed spirit of cooperation amongst both paramedics and fire agencies.

We are working diligently to improve operations through joint efforts with the local fire departments. Troy and I recently put together a list. Ada County Paramedics is:

• Working with the fire departments to develop improved incident management policies for better on-scene coordination.
• Working with the fire departments to establish uniform medical protocols for ACP and all local fire departments.
• Working with the fire departments to improve communications between agencies. Now fire departments and ACP use one radio frequency when both are dispatched on the same 9-1-1 emergency call.
• Now providing joint training opportunities for fire department paramedics.
• Offering a joint staffing proposal to the Boise and Meridian Fire Departments that would create teams of one Ada County paramedic and one fire paramedic to serve together on some county ambulances.

There is always room to do things better. ACP does an excellent job, but we are open-minded with regard to ideas for ways in which to further improve the provision of services in Ada County.

Fine Fare for Fair Fans

Things have been busy and I haven’t posted on here for a little while but I will try to get caught up here, or you can catch me out at the Western Idaho Fair.

The fair is in full swing. Attendance is up. At the halfway mark, we have seen 95,306 attendees this year compared with 90,803 last year at the same time.

Over 7700 people were there with me last night at the Foreigner concert, which was included free with paid fair admission. The band played a number of crowd-pleasing favorites such as “Cold as Ice,” “Urgent” and “Double Vision.” It was an energetic and entertaining performance.

The upcoming lineup of this year's free concerts includes:

• Rodney Atkins - August 26, 7:30 PM
• The Four Tops - August 27, 7:30 PM
• Blake Shelton - August 28, 7:30 PM

Food and beverage sales at the fair are also up. It seems our local celebration of agriculture provides one of the best opportunities for affordable family entertainment in the area. I want to make sure it stays that way by keeping admission prices affordable. Come out and have some fun with us at the Western Idaho Fair!

Days 'N' Nights

I am frequently asked what an Ada County commissioner does. County commissioners in all 44 counties around the state do pretty much the same thing – we just do it 44 different ways. For a county the size of ours, with 408,000 residents, this position is full-time and then some.

In Ada County, my two Commission colleagues and I are responsible for setting the county’s annual budget, which will be $171 million with the start of the new fiscal year on October 1. We are also the only people with the authority to pay the bills and contract on behalf of the county.

We are ultimately responsible for a workforce of about 1600 employees, although the six other county elected officials – the sheriff, prosecutor, coroner, clerk, treasurer and assessor – run their own operations.

When the county gets sued, the three of us are always named as defendants and we are responsible for working with the prosecutor’s civil attorneys to defend the county against claims, on behalf of county taxpayers.

Late June and early July, we serve as the Board of Equalization, hearing hundreds of property valuation appeals.

Other departments and divisions we oversee include: Emergency Medical Services – the county’s ambulance district, development services, juvenile detention, risk management, human resources, employee benefits, purchasing, training, business process services, communications, indigent services, weed & pest, mosquito abatement, the landfill, parks & waterways, Expo Idaho and the Western Idaho Fair. We also perform quarterly jail inspections.

In addition to our internal county responsibilities, we have a number of external responsibilities, as well, such as serving on the Boards of the Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho, and Valley Regional Transit.

I enjoy the public service aspect of this position – being able to cut unnecessary costs, while ensuring the efficient, effective provision of services to our community.

Bits 'N' Bytes

• Several people who are contemplating running for office have contacted me recently, seeking advice on how to win an election. The best advice I have to give them is to get involved, stay involved and become informed. There you have it in a nutshell.

• Along the same lines, I hope the man who contacted me a week or two ago about running for the legislature will call me back. I must not have the correct phone number.

• I heard on the radio that the recession is over so it MUST be true (she says, sarcastically.) I sincerely HOPE it’s over and I WANT it to be over, but I will believe it when I see it.

• Yes, I do plan to run for the office of governor; however, I have not made a formal announcement just yet. Why run? As a current county commissioner, I am seeing how much state laws and mandates are impacting us here at the county level.

As governor, I would be able to have a stronger influence on the state laws that impact county taxpayers and local governments. As a Republican, I believe that in most cases, decisions made at the local level tend to better serve the public. For more information about my campaign, please click on the link to my campaign website or check it out at www.sharonu.com .

What We Wouldn't Cut

Yesterday, we officially adopted a $171 million budget for the upcoming 2009-2010 fiscal year that begins on October 1. We cut 11.4 percent, or $22 million, from the previous year’s $193 million budget. It was the first time I ever voted in favor of an Ada County budget.

Although I couldn’t get a second vote to support the idea it would have been my preference to replace $2 million worth of property tax revenue with money we have in a budget stabilization reserve – essentially a “rainy day” fund. This move would not have amounted to a big reduction in taxes for individual Ada County property taxpayers, but I believe it would have at least made it clear that lowering taxes is one of our goals. Nonetheless, we did make significant budget cuts and are moving in the right direction.

We tried to cut back in places that would have the least impact on service delivery. Although no stone was left unturned when seeking expenditures that could be reduced, there were some sacred cows. We didn’t cut payments to Emergency Medical Services, to senior centers, or to the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program.

“CASA is committed to the protection and healing of abused and neglected children.” This program, “appoints a trained volunteer to a child who has been placed in foster care due to suspected abuse or neglect.” We heard from a number of CASA volunteers who pleaded for continued county funding. The work these volunteers do for the most vulnerable members of our community is greatly valued and appreciated.

Despite huge budget cuts, we are maintaining all of the primary functions of county government and retaining similar levels of service.

County Indigent Program Costs Increase

Ada County’s Indigent Services medical payments budget is increasing by a half a million dollars, from $2.9 million to $3.4 million, this coming fiscal year. Sadly, that increase might not be enough.

According to state law, County property taxpayers are required to pay the necessary medical expenses for people whose income, minus their legitimate expenditures, do not have enough money left over to pay their own medical bills. The county pays at the Medicaid rate, which is about 40 percent of what is usually billed for services.

This portion of the budget is increasing for two reasons. We are expecting more claims to be filed in the current dismal economic climate. The rest of the increase is due to a change made by the Idaho Legislature.

In prior years, the county’s maximum payment was $10,000 per applicant, per year. Because of the legislative change, the county’s maximum payment has increased to $11,000, which will cost Ada County property taxpayers an extra quarter of a million dollars a year. Allowable medical expenses beyond that are paid by the State’s Catastrophic Board.

Hard as the $1000 increase is to accept, it sure beats Governor Butch Otter’s proposal, which was to raise property taxpayers’ share of medical payments to $15,000 per applicant, per year. Had the Legislature gone along, Ada County property taxpayers’ obligation would have increased by $1.25 million. The governor was trying to balance the State’s budget on the backs of local property taxpayers.

Ada County Indigent Services does not run a traditional welfare program. The county places liens on each applicant’s real and personal property and, whenever possible, requires repayment. Realistically, however, only a small percentage of what is paid out gets reimbursed.

This discussion will be ongoing over the next several years, and begs the question: whose responsibility should it be to bear the burden of the cost of providing necessary medical services to those people who are uninsured and unable to pay?

Immunization Clinics

As I have mentioned previously, I believe the decision about whether to immunize our children should be left in the hands of parents, not the government. I believe that as parents we must take it upon ourselves to research the issue and decide for ourselves whether our children are better off being immunized or not.

My six children had all of the recommended early childhood immunizations. I believe that the lifesaving benefits of preventing illnesses such as measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis far outweigh the possible risks involved.

The Central District Health Department just put out the following news release, containing information you might find useful:

"Back-to-School Immunization Clinics Start Monday

"The Central District Health Department has scheduled special immunization clinics specifically for back to school age children 4 – 18 years old beginning Monday August 10th. All immunizations will be by appointment only.

"CDHD Boise office – 707 N Armstrong Place. Call 327-7450 for appointments.

"August 10, 8 am – 5 pm
"August 11, 8 am – 5 pm
"August 12, 11 am – 7 pm
"August 19, 11 am – 7 pm
"August 20, 8 am – 5 pm
"August 21, 8 am – 4 pm

"CDHD will provide immunization services to all children regardless of their families’ insurance status. CDHD will bill insurance companies on behalf of clients and then work with families if there is an outstanding balance remaining.

"For more information on immunizations at CDHD call 208-327-7450 or visit us on the web at http://www.cdhd.idaho.gov."

Life on the Edge

I am a firm believer in individual personal responsibility. When welfare assistance is needed, my preference is for private sector organizations such as the Salvation Army, Idaho Foodbank, and religious organizations, to provide necessary social services whenever possible.

When help is needed, I still believe the best kind is a hand up rather than a hand out. Anyone who is able-bodied and receiving government assistance should be required to give back to the community.

That said, let me share an experience I had last Friday. I participated in the United Way’s first “Life on the Edge” simulation. No, this wasn’t a computer game. In fact, it wasn’t a game at all.

Members of the community had the opportunity to come together to experience, however briefly, what life can be like for people who are living in poverty.

Participants were assigned a new identity. I was a 57-year-old disabled grandmother, living with my 36-year-old daughter, her 36-year-old husband, and their 15-year-old daughter. Each of the four weeks of the simulation was compressed into 13 minutes.

During the compressed 13-minute weeks, we had to try to take care of a week’s worth of business such as buying food and making payments on monthly bills for utilities, a mortgage, clothes, medication and miscellaneous items.

People with a job were required to spend eight of the 13 minutes in a simulated week at work. They could not assist the family with other necessary actions, like paying bills.

Social services stations including a police department, a school, a homeless shelter, the Department of Health and Welfare and the Community Action Agency were located at tables around the room, but it was often necessary to stand in line in order to receive services, pay a bill, buy food, or cash a paycheck at the bank.

In my “family,” when the “son-in-law’s” pay was cut unexpectedly the second week, our lives became very stressful as we tried to make ends meet without the needed money. When my “daughter” was also robbed, things fell apart quickly.

Although in the simulation, my family did not lose its house, we did fail to pay all of our outstanding bills by the end of the month.

At the end of this exercise, participants compared experiences. Although I have some background with these issues, I still found the process to be educational, from the perspective of truly understanding what life can be like for people who are living in poverty.

For more information about “Life on the Edge”, United Way, or volunteer opportunities in the community, please contact Gaye Bennett at 336-1070 X123 or Gbennett@unitedwaytv.org or Kathy Wold at 336-1070 X105 or Kwold@unitedwaytv.org .

If you are in need of assistance, call the Idaho CareLine at 2-1-1 for a list of resources, including non-governmental agencies that operate on a sliding scale and no-fee basis.

Community Caring

This community cares. On Friday, over 2300 volunteers showed up to assist in the search for young Robert Manwill, whose sudden disappearance on July 24 has touched this community deeply and moved people to action.

As a county, we are involved in the search efforts through the Ada County Sheriff’s Office and the landfill is now cordoned off as a location of interest.

As a mother, my heart breaks to think of this young boy, possibly injured and in distress, or worse. I’ve been holding my own children even closer, and lingered a little longer last night while the kids roasted marshmallows over the coals after our backyard barbecue.