Who should be responsible for transporting patients to local hospitals? The answer to that question could have an effect on Las Vegas medical jobs held by firefighters and EMT jobs with private companies.
The City of North Las Vegas recently announced that it is considering changing the way patients get to the hospital. Currently, private ambulance services do that job, but the city's fire department wants to transport more patients itself, which would help save jobs and bring in revenue.
Some people disagree with that idea, however, such as John Wilson, local general manager of a private ambulance service that transports most of the city's emergency patients.
"(The city) is trying to fix their budget shortfall by taking revenue and jobs from the private sector and shifting it to the public sector to minimize the impact on public employees," he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "This is sending the wrong message to the business community."
Currently, the majority of emergency ambulance calls in North Las Vegas are handled by American Medical Response and MedicWest, both of which are owned by Emergency Medical Services Corportation But the fire department wants to be in charge of transport services for all seriously sick or injured patients and all traffic accident patients.
Officials estimate that if the department does take over emergency transport services, it would result in an increase from 25 patients to 375 patients each month. That would bring in an additional $1.6 million for the city each year.
Other options on the table include: allowing the fire department to begin transporting all 911 patients in the city, canceling the existing private ambulance provider's franchise agreement and establishing a competitive bidding process for transport services, or continuing with the way things are.
North Las Vegas has already undergone five budget cuts since the end of 2008. The city is now facing a budget gap of $33.4 million and could end up eliminating 273 jobs, 21 of which would be in the fire department.
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