By Teddy Tauscher
The Eagle-Tribune
METHUEN, Mass. — Nursing homes may soon see a $500 bill every time the fire department is called for nonemergency lifts.
The change, coupled with a proposed roughly 19% increase in ambulance fees, was given initial approval by the City Council last week.
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When patients at assisted living facilities or nursing homes fall down without injury, staff are often forbidden from helping the residents up due to liability concerns, according to officials. Instead the local fire department is called.
In the last two years first responders have received 396 such calls, according to a report by Chief Administrative and Financial Officer Maggie Duprey.
The proposed fee, which does not apply to residential calls, would have generated $198,000 from the calls. The fee amount was determined by factoring in the cost of the response, including salaries, fuel and insurance, Duprey said at the meeting.
Charging fees for the service has become increasingly common, officials said.
“Why are we not charging for something that other communities are charging for,” Mayor D.J. Beauregard said at the same meeting.
As the cost of operating ambulance services rises, other fees also need to increase to cover the difference, according to the ordinance authorizing both changes.
The proposal would increase the cost of ambulance fees to $1,750 to $2,975, depending on the level of required care.
Although the lift assist fee was generally favorable received by councilors during the meeting, officials are still working out the details of how the ordinance will work. In particular, local leaders are focusing on ensuring nursing homes cannot pass the new fee cost onto the involved patient.
Beauregard said the fee would be rolled out while helping educate local nursing homes and assisted living facilities to avoid the call to the department entirely. He cited another fire department that has provided lessons to staff about how to help the elderly get to their feet with less liability.
“We are going to work with them,” Beauregard said. “But we don’t want them to abuse the system either.”
The city’s current budget already assumes the fee changes go into effect and provide $400,000 in additional revenue.
Even with the increase, ambulance fees are still generally lower or equal to surrounding committees, including Andover and North Andover, according to Duprey’s report.
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