Medic One administration debated among governments

The City and County recently resolved a Medic One budget dispute through formal mediation. The issue and settlement were discussed at various public meetings during 2010. During those discussions, Whatcom County Council members stated interest in changing how the Whatcom Medic One system is administered.

Countywide Medic One services are provided by Whatcom Medic One, operated by the City of Bellingham Fire Department under an interlocal agreement with Whatcom County (PDF).  This agreement is based on a unified approach agreed to in 2005, described in the Emergency Medical Services Plan (PDF) developed by the Whatcom County Emergency Medical Services Working Group.

Since then, the City has been working hard to meet these agreements and maintain unified, cost-effective and high quality paramedic service for City and County residents. 

These efforts have been complicated by a bitter labor dispute between Whatcom County Fire District 7 firefighters, who formed an independent guild, and Bellingham Firefighters IAFF Local 106, an autonomous organization with rights and obligations that are outside the control of the City. This dispute remains unresolved, and no further discussions are planned between the two work groups.

Fallout from this dispute has included conflict over training and supervision of paramedic certification and strained relations among paramedics who must work side-by-side in providing patient care. It also has led to District 7 establishing many separate operations that are duplicative of Whatcom Medic One services. While the City has worked with District 7 to create a workable system, these operations are not part of the Emergency Medical Services Plan (PDF) to which we all agreed.

The City's efforts have been further complicated by statements and actions by the Fire District 7 administration, the District 7 firefighters' guild and Whatcom County officials, maligning the City's efforts and bringing unnecessary political maneuvering to bear against the Medic One system.

• Letter from Pete Kremen, Whatcom County Executive, to Mayor Pike on Jul 15, 2010 (PDF)
• Mayor Pike's response to Pete Kremen's letter of Jul 15, 2010 (PDF)

The City Administration's position

• The City is committed to providing quality, cost-effective public safety services to whomever we are called upon to serve.
• As the provider of nationally-recognized Medic One services for the past 35 years, City officials know what it takes to fund and operate this program and are proud of the high level of service we have consistently provided over the years. 
• We will continue to advocate for an integrated, county-wide paramedic program, because we are confident this is the most cost-effective and medically sound way to provide quality paramedic care for all Whatcom County residents.
• The City is required to follow state labor laws in working with our collective bargaining units, which are autonomous organizations with rights and obligations that are outside the control of the City.  This precludes the City's direct involvement settling the labor dispute. We stand ready to work with District 7 if and when the labor dispute is settled.
• Over the past 11 years, Whatcom County officials routinely have questioned the operation and cost of the City-administered Medic One program. The City has continued to cooperate with the County and fire agencies in expensive, extensive planning processes in an effort to maintain high quality emergency medical services throughout Whatcom County, and has demonstrated time and time again our ability to do so.
• The County has no history, expertise or the necessary resources to provide high quality, cost-effective paramedic service throughout Whatcom County. The end result of County government exerting itself could be a disjointed, dysfunctional system that in the end costs the taxpayers more.
  
  For example:
  • County officials appear to disregard the rigorous medical training requirements of Whatcom Medic One, designed to ensure top-quality, life-saving care. They are willing to spend extra time and money avoiding this training by sending medic students elsewhere, rather than helping resolve obstacles to maintaining a unified system.
  • The County has unilaterally directed voter-approved funds, side-stepping the decision-making processes outlined in our interlocal agreement (PDF). These actions could ultimately increase costs to the City and County general funds, at a time when taxpayers can least afford it.
  • One system administered and operated by one agency takes advantage of economies of scale that are lost when multiple agencies duplicate services. Whatcom Fire District 7 already has duplicated some services of Whatcom Medic One - including medical oversight, ambulance billing, quality assurance oversight and purchasing - at a cost to taxpayers.
  • County officials have a history of charging administrative fees and siphoning interest from those funds to the county General fund, despite rulings from the state Auditor's Office (PDF) about the inappropriateness of these practices. These practices, if applied to County-administered Whatcom Medic One funds, would reduce voter-approved Medic One resources available to provide paramedic services.
• The City's priority is providing quality, cost-effective paramedic services. We would prefer to do so within a county-wide system, but not at the expense of onerous subsidies to the system at the expense of City taxpayers.

For more information

Contact the City of Bellingham Mayor's Office for more information.

Posted: Jul 9, 2010

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