The Buffalo News
BUFFALO 鈥� At the Feb. 27 meeting of the New York State EMS Council, Robert McCartin spoke about how delayed grant funding from the state Health Department was affecting his organization鈥檚 ability to assist emergency medical services providers in Western New York.
鈥淚f contract award letters are not issued soon, we risk further reductions in services, something no program agency director wants to see,鈥� said McCartin, director of UBMD EMS Program Agency.
Not quite three weeks later, McCartin shared a message Monday with the EMS community: UBMD EMS Program Agency was closing, effectively immediately.
The closure comes after more than two decades of providing administrative support to local EMS agencies. While the Program Agency did not provide emergency medical services, its work under the expired state grant included reviewing agency renewals, protocols, licensing and patient care documentation.
UBMD did not respond to a question about how many jobs were cut by the program agency鈥檚 closure. But the UBMD Emergency Medicine website shows two administrative staff members, and local EMS officials said two jobs were dedicated to the program agency.
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Those two jobs supported hundreds of people in the local EMS community, noted Bryan Brauner, CEO of Twin City Ambulance.
Other program agencies across the state also are working under lapsed contracts, and Brauner and others are concerned more closures will follow. AMR Regional Director Timothy Frost said he thinks UBMD could be 鈥渕aybe that first domino鈥� in wider program agency closures. And many local EMS officials see this as another example of the state underfunding emergency medical services.
鈥淭his is an absolute failure for New York State to live up to its promises, and that鈥檚 the bigger issue for us,鈥� said Brauner, chair-elect of the Wyoming-Erie Regional EMS Council.
State Health Department spokesperson Marissa Crary said program agency contracts are under review, and 鈥渢here are no updates at this time.鈥�
Brauner and other EMS leaders said they have struggled to get answers from the state about why the funding is delayed.
The Olean-based Southern Tier Health Care System is the EMS program agency for Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Allegany counties, and provides support to EMS agencies, ensures regulatory compliance, facilitates training and fosters collaboration between first responders and hospitals.
鈥淗owever, our ability to continue this critical work is now in jeopardy due to a contract delay that has left us without necessary funding for nearly nine months,鈥� said Donna Kahm, president and CEO of Southern Tier Health Care System. 鈥淭he contract, which was supposed to begin on July 1, 2024, remains in limbo.鈥�
Without a contract, Kahm said that affects the EMS training, oversight and support services that the region relies on daily. In addition, Kahm said the program agency has decided to forgo attendance at the upcoming State EMS Council meeting because it cannot take on travel costs, given the instability of the program and the contract delay. That means the challenges and viewpoints of rural EMS agencies in those three counties will not be represented at the state level.
鈥淲e urge state officials to resolve this contract delay immediately, so we can continue ensuring that Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Allegany counties have the EMS infrastructure needed to save lives,鈥� Kahm said.
Uncertainty over federal funding could mean 鈥榳orld of trouble鈥� for NY Medicaid
Gov. Kathy Hochul and some of the state鈥檚 most powerful lawmakers are openly concerned that cuts at the federal level could leave New York at a loss. House Republicans in Congress have advanced the framework of a budget plan last that proposed a $2 trillion cut in spending. They have said the proposal would not impact Medicaid funding, but Democrats are extremely skeptical.
For Wyoming-Erie Regional EMS Council, Brauner said he believes the council will be able to absorb the majority of what the UBMD EMS Program Agency did, though it will mean more work for some of the council鈥檚 subcommittees. In addition, the council had funding earmarked through the program agency contract for paramedics scholarships, which are now jeopardized.
Other regions across the state, Brauner said, would be devastated if their program agency closed. Many small, volunteer agencies, for instance, rely on the program agency staff for policy guidance, training and credentialing.
When the UBMD EMS Program Agency news came out, it quickly spread through the EMS community.
Jon Smith, chief and CEO of Pittsford Volunteer Ambulance near Rochester, and chair of the Monroe County EMS Chiefs Association, said the closure represents a 鈥渓oss of bandwidth to support鈥� the EMS community. Without contracts, he noted other program agencies are also at risk of closure at some point.
At the Monroe-Livingston Regional EMS Council, where Smith is vice chair, the council has helped the University of Rochester carry out the program agency work for more than 30 years. The program agency, for instance, supports the public access defibrillation program, which ensures that automated external defibrillators are available in public spaces where large numbers of people gather.
鈥淎s our program agencies are underfunded, or at risk, not only are the EMS services somewhat at risk for being able to meet some of their statutory obligations, but also, you have community programs that are inherent in every community that are also at risk of not having the appropriate support,鈥� Smith said.
Without a contract, Smith worries how long organizations, such as UBMD or the University of Rochester, will be able or willing to donate their time and resources without the promised state funding coming in.
鈥淚 think what we鈥檙e seeing is that each of these organizations is evaluating, on a regular basis, what commitment they can uphold without creating harm for themselves,鈥� Smith said.
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