Members of the
Porter County Council want to further examine the County Commissioners’
decision in late 2014 to extend the County’s ambulance service contract with
Porter Health Care Systems.
The topic came up
at the Council meeting Tuesday when Council member Sylvia Graham, D-at
large, questioned PHCS CEO Stephen Lunn about an ambulance that was
reportedly no longer at the station near Hebron on Ind. 8.
Council member
Jeremy Rivas, D-2nd, said the contract for the ambulance service should be
up this year only to be corrected by Council President Dan Whitten, D-at
large, that the Commissioners had extended it a few more years.
Rivas and Council
member Jim Biggs, R-1st, asked why the Commissioners had not approached the
Council prior to deciding to extend the contract.
Whitten said he too
was “caught by surprise.”
According to
minutes from the Commissioner’s Nov. 18, 2014, meeting, Commissioner
President John Evans, R-North, announced that hospital officials had
contacted him saying “they are aware of the financial straits the County is
in” and said they would hold their rate at $750,000, instead of raising it
to $1 million for the fifth and final year, if the Commissioners would agree
to extend the contract for an additional five years at $750,000.
“I think it’s a
great deal they are offering us. We are going to save $1.5 million over the
course of the extension of the contract,” Evans is quoted in the minutes.
Evans and the board
made up of Commissioners Laura Shurr Blaney and Nancy Adams subsequently
approved the measure.
Whitten said he
believes the Commissioners have the right to make the decision, but said he
would ask that they be invited to the next Council meeting to answer
questions. He asked the Council’s attorney Harold Harper to look into what
the ordinances decree.
Biggs said that the
County has spent $2.6 million on the ambulance contract over the last four
years and the extension for the next five years at $750,000 would be a total
of $3.75 million.
With the Town of
Chesterton in 2013 contracting with Superior Ambulance Service for coverage,
Biggs said the County should have discussed the contract again.
“I’m not saying get
rid of Porter (Health Care Systems). I’m just saying we should look at other
options to confirm we are getting the best price,” said Biggs. “It’s no
question that costs for services have gone up.”
A Chesterton
Tribune article from 2014 shows Biggs raised the same question then.
The hospital was
sold in 2007 and the County has paid for the ambulance service contract
using hospital sale sale proceeds, which need a unanimous vote from the
Council and Commissioners.
The Commissioners,
during budget hearings, include the service in their budget each year which
is approved by the Council.
“We have to provide
emergency services to this county,” Evans said. “The Commissioners decide
the contracts and the Council decides the funding.”
Abatement passes
test
Earlier, the
Council voted 7-0 to continue the next year of the 10-year abatement for
Porter Regional Hospital, at the corner of U.S. 6 and Ind. 49, in Liberty
Twp.
Harper said he has
reviewed the compliance with benefit forms and found PRH meets the
requirements.
According to the
abatement agreement approved in 2009, the Hospital was to hire and retain
126 additional employees when it opened its new facility, with at least $7.5
million in new salaries. It also agreed to build $130 million of taxable
property and install $20 million worth of new information technology
equipment.
The forms state
that the Hospital has retained 300 full-time employees since it opened, with
$44 million in new salaries. In total, the Hospital has 1,800 employees,
with a payout total of $143.8 million annually.
The Hospital
reports a total investment of $162.6 million into its facility, and $66
million in IT equipment. This year, the assessed value is $117.3 million.
For 2016, $58.6
million is the amount that is to is to be included in the County’s total
assessed value.
County Auditor
Vicki Urbanik told the Council the Hospital is wrapping up its fourth year
of abatement.
Grease at MOH
Other business
Tuesday, the Council approved a $40,000 appropriation already budgeted for
royalties at the Memorial Opera House for the 2017 season.
Business Director
Scot MacDonald said the Opera House will be performing “Grease” next month
and tickets are selling quickly.
MacDonald said
there will be a 1950’s theme Sock Hop fundraiser on Friday, July 22, for the
community, from 6 to 10 p.m., at the Urschel Pavilion in downtown
Valparaiso.