“It’s complicated, and it can’t be explained over the telephone, besides, haven’t I lied enough to city leaders and the citizens of Sioux Falls?”

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2009 Ford E-Series Super Duty Ambulance Prep Package. (03/03/09)

Well you gotta hand it to the VP of Paramedics Plus in Sioux Falls, he’s learning, instead of just bald face lying to the public, he just won’t answer questions at all. And hey, he’s got Jill Franken on his side;

Sioux Falls Public Health Director Jill Franken described the changes as part of a 60-day pilot program aimed at decreasing reliance on outside aid from neighboring services, but she wouldn’t elaborate on how it would achieve that goal.

“Isn’t it fair to say we don’t yet know the results of the pilot test?” Franken said.

Jill, I think the question was ‘what is the plan’ not ‘what are the results’. I know you are a smart girl and all, you know the difference between the two? Right? I could call you and explain the difference between those two questions but it may be too complicated to answer over the phone.

Franken said under the new, temporary dispatching rules, firefighters will be sent to fewer lower-level medical calls. The department has more than 30 trained paramedics on staff.

That’s funny, because when Jill was asked if the tax payers and the SFFD was subsidizing PP she said ‘we were splitting hairs’ but now all of sudden she is cutting back on that ‘assistance’.

It will be interesting to see how this ‘pilot test’ turns out. Isn’t it great Sioux Falls patients in emergency situations are being used as guinea pigs? Sounds more like the city and PP can’t stand to give Med-Star even a few crumbs, so they devise secret plans to avoid them.

Playing politics with Event Centers and swimming pools is one thing, but when you play politics with the health and well-being of citizens and tell us it is ‘too complicated’ to explain, that’s just wrong.

Posted in: Sioux Falls

Let the battle lines be drawn

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Tuesday night’s city council meeting may be one of the most exciting in a long time, and it comes down to two items next to each other, 39 and 40.

Item 39 deals with the Paramedics Plus contract and rate increases. The city council really doesn’t have a choice on this one. If a majority votes against it, they could be sued by Paramedics Plus, so you ask, what’s the point? Trust me, the councilors have been asking themselves that very question.

But don’t think it will get passed quietly. Many former and current Paramedics Plus employees have been speaking out, so have some fire fighters, and mistreated patients and others with connections to REMSA. Expect to hear some interesting public testimony before the vote.

Then there is that little $25 million administration building, Item 40. Expect to hear more testimony, not only about the proposed building but about the 300 building and other unused space the city currently owns. But even if the council can sustain their 5 votes from last week (I suspect they will) they won’t be veto proof. Or can they get one of the 3 to flip (which is a possibility).

But the bigger question is, will Huether veto the repeal if it gets a 5-3 vote? It’s dangerous territory, he wouldn’t just be vetoing the 5 councilors he would be putting a big middle finger to all the voters who elected them to make prudent fiscal decisions. Four of them this past Spring heard it loud and clear from the constituents, they don’t want to see city government grow, they want their money spent on fixing our infrastructure, not paying another mortgage for a building we don’t need.

I also ask the question, if this building was so important, why didn’t we propose it before the indoor pool? We could have used the levee bond repayment to go as a down payment on this building, but instead we foolishly threw the money away on an indoor aquatic center we should have built with a private partnership.

If the mayor thinks his popularity is getting worse, I can guarantee if he vetoes the council on this one, he can kiss the governorship bye-bye. Because he will own that veto straight through the Fall of 2018.

Posted in: Mayor Hubris, Mayor Subprime Mike Huether, Mike Huether, SF City Council, Sioux Falls

KELO-TV and KSFY both look like fools, let the cat fight begin!

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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEtbfzMLVWU[/youtube]

Oh, the belly rolls I get when I watch a couple of local TV stations battle it out over a story that was missed a year ago . . . the contract with Paramedics Plus;

That’s what city officials are saying after a recent report by other local media (KELO-TV) that called into question the response time of Paramedics Plus, claiming they may not even show up.

Tuesday night, the city council was supposed to hear the annual review for Paramedics Plus, but because of the recent news story, Sioux Falls Health Director Jill Franken was forced to spend most of the meeting setting the record straight.

“I feel it’s quite disheartening actually that we are getting calls from elderly ladies who are asking about concerns that they have about whether or not the ambulance is going to respond to them because of recent miscommunication that’s been provided in the community,” said Franken.

Well, Jill, those ladies should be concerned. There has been multiple reports of of bad service in the news and at public meetings. Personally I have received emails and have had accounts of questionable billing practices.

But let’s first address a news(?) organization taking the word of a city official with no follow up with actual clients of the ambulance service. Talk about lazy, piss-poor journalism. I hope they taught you more then to read a teleprompter in journalism school with the look of concern and nicely trimmed eyebrows.

Then let’s take the news organization they are attacking. Via email I made them aware that this should have been a news story when they were picked to be our ambulance service. DaCola had a massive paper trail of the cozy relationship between the provider and the consultant that picked them. We also had accounts of ‘early negotiations’ with the provider.

No response, must have been busy chasing rain drops.

South DaCola, and my foot soldiers have been compiling evidence and interviews with clients, and it doesn’t paint a pretty picture for Paramedics Plus.

On top of that, the news organizations could at least take the obvious and make hay with it.

• All money made from the service goes to Texas, and is not recirculated in our community.

• Paramedics Plus operates with an EMT and Paramedic team, when the previous service operated with two Paramedics.

• The 12 hour shifts, sitting in a vehicle are too long.

Then there is the mutual agreements and the non-emergency transfers that I won’t even go into.

What is pathetic about the whole situation is that while BOTH news organizations are sitting on a powder keg of a story, they take the time to roll around in the alley like a couple of stray cats fighting over an empty tuna can, while I sit at a public meeting and watch a big wig from said company look at his future fishing boat on his I-Pad while a constituent gives public testimony about his wife who eventually dies from a massive heart attack because of the poor service of the ambulance company.

Like some dark irony in a Batman movie, I watch the local news battle it out, while missing the big catch. Maybe they can borrow that fishing boat?

Posted in: Paramedics Plus, SF City Council, Sioux Falls

It’s a Sioux Falls City Council Party!

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Just one day after some people blow their hands off (in the name of freedom of course) the city council gets back to the ‘peoples’ business.

During the city council meeting they will get the first reading of a rate increase for Paramedics ‘95%’ Plus. They will school the council on how cool they are at the informational. I think this will be a very interesting review.

At the Fiscal meeting, finance director, Tracy Turbak comes out of hiding. Hope he enjoyed his vacation, because he has a lot of questions coming his way.

Posted in: SF City Council, Sioux Falls