Commissioners worry about Priori

Jeremy Nash news-herald.net

Some Loudon County commissioners are concerned about a recent change in local operations for Priority Ambulance.

In a letter sent earlier this month to commissioners by Priority Vice President of Tennessee operations Rob Webb, Priority in March saw a decline of 911 ambulance calls by 13 percent compared to 2019. The first seven days in April decreased by 30 percent.

“We anticipate the demand for our services will return in the near future; however, we must make adjustments to our short-term ambulance deployment to ensure that we continue to operate a sustainable EMS system and protect our ability to provide continued service to the citizens who rely on us,” Webb said in the letter.

Temporary modifications include reducing 16 staffing ambulance unit hours daily from the system by converting one 24-hour ambulance to an eight-hour ambulance. The change will result in a daily staffing pattern of two 24-hour ambulances, one eight-hour ambulance and one 12-hour ambulance, Webb said. The eight-hour ambulance will cover the daily peak of 911 call demand. Hopes are to minimize impact to Priority’s employees by rotating the shift receiving the 16-hour decrease to ensure everyone is equally impacted.

Webb followed up with another letter to commissioners.

"We understand that the above staffing pattern differs from the current contract; however, we are in unprecedented and extenuating circumstances responding to the current public health crisis," Webb said. "We emphasize that these adjustments are temporary. We are working closely with the Loudon County Emergency 9-1-1 Center monitoring demand daily and will return to normal operations as soon as the volume supports the need for additional staffed ambulance hours. Additionally, we will continue to work closely with leadership at Fort Loudoun Medical Center and other medical services to ensure we are meeting the needs of our health care providers.

"Though we anticipate call volume to return in the near future, we are unable to predict exactly when and if a surge from COVID-19 will intensify the system or when operations will return to a new normal," he added.

County Commissioner Adam Waller worries what could happen if multiple calls came in at once.

“I think that the ambulance service needs to continue to do the job they’re doing,” Waller said. “We can’t at this time take a chance on going down to two ambulances running their routes or being available on any given day. That’s just not what we agreed upon in the contract. We need them to do everything they can to make sure they have as much service provided as possible. We want to work with the mayor and our ambulance service to make sure that all the needs of the county are being met.”

Waller said he and Commissioners Matthew Tinker, Van Shaver and Henry Cullen were made aware of the reduction recently by concerned residents.

“But it wasn’t communicated to us from Priority,” Waller said. “I mean they went to the mayor. No offense to the mayor, but he has no say in the matter. County commission voted to accept the contract with Priority. This is matter between us and Priority. The county commission and Priority, not the mayor and Priority. Something needs to be addressed about it and needs to be fixed because, again, it’s unacceptable to cut our ambulance services.”

According to the contract, Priority should have three 24-hour Advanced Life Support ambulances to serve the county.

“I think that the ambulance service needs to continue to do the job they’re doing,” Tinker said. “We can’t at this time take a chance on going down to two ambulances running their routes or being available on any given day. That’s just not what we agreed upon in the contract. We need them to do everything they can to make sure they have as much service provided as possible. We want to work with the mayor and our ambulance service to make sure that all the needs of the county are being met.”

Loudon County Mayor Rollen “Buddy” Bradshaw hopes to soon find a “happy medium.”

“Nationwide calls are down about 25 percent,” Bradshaw said. “From Loudon County’s standpoint calls are down about 20 percent, and so with the coverage that they are maintaining they were losing money, and so they’ve shown a willingness to work with us and both with commission. What they’re wanting to hopefully prevent is not to have lay anybody off and I can certainly appreciate that.”