Medical transporter company hired to aid paid ALS personnel

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Last week, the county commissioners visited the business in Mechanicsville where Commissioner Kenny Dement tried out some of the equipment.

Started about a year ago, Patriot is staffed by members of Southern Maryland Volunteer EMS Services and now employs 35 people. It has two ambulances and a wheelchair-accessible van to transport non-emergency patients.

The service runs about 100 calls a month, said Vic DeMattia, owner. In the meantime, he has been visiting nursing homes and other institutions trying to spread the word about the service. The ambulances are equipped for long-distance transport for patients for trips up to 90 minutes away.

Patriot has its own dispatch center in the facility and can schedule transport weeks and months in advance.

The charges are sent to the patients' Medicaid, Medicare and insurance companies.

"We're doing our own billing," DeMattia said.

It took heavy investment to get the company going. They had to wait eight months before the first insurance payment came in. The two ambulances are "pre-experienced," he said, costing $40,000 each. After equipment installation, one of the ambulances is worth $100,000. Brand-new ambulances cost between $150,000 and $200,000, he said.

"I probably could have started easier businesses than this one," he said.

Dement, at the behest of the other commissioners, got strapped into a gurney, one that cost $11,000 because of its power-lift capabilities. "If you break it, it's $11,000. Whose budget is it coming out of?" joked Commissioner Daniel H. Raley (D).

Patriot has had some trouble getting the interest of two St. Mary's County medical facilities, but they have a "great reception in Charles County," he said.

In 2007, 25 percent of ambulance calls in St. Mary's were made by doctors from their offices, said Tom Hesbach, chief of operations for the Advanced Life Support Unit. Those calls could be handled by Patriot instead of relying on volunteer rescue squads, saving them for real emergencies.

Commissioner Thomas A. Mattingly Sr. (D) cited a recent 911 call from a woman complaining of ankle pain. She got an ambulance ride just in time before her medical benefits expired, he said.

Hesbach said of the contract for Patriot to assist the ALS unit with manpower, "When the government doesn't have enough people, they go to contractors," just like Patuxent River Naval Air Station and its contractor workforce.

"Emergency services is part of the government's function," he said.

"We're going to see a new model emerge out of this," for the state to follow, he said.

jbabcock@somdnews.com