New York Ambulance Transfer Service Called a Success

In six months, the Oswego Fire Department's ambulance service has billed patients more than $100,000 for trips from Oswego Hospital to Syracuse and beyond, said fire Chief Edward Geers.

Each transport nets the city upward of 75 percent profit before the cost for equipment and other long-term costs are figured in, Geers said. After the money is collected from patients, the money goes directly into the fund that pays the city's operating budget.

"We're definitely making money," the chief said. "It's going really well."

The service, which began in September, has handled about 160 transfers from Oswego to medical facilities as close as Syracuse and as far away as Vermont and Massachusetts, Geers said.

The 63-firefighter department includes 18 medics and 17 paramedics, Geers said. All but five firefighters are certified emergency medical technicians, qualified to work in ambulances.

An after-hours run to Syracuse costs overtime wages of $210 per transfer. But the city charges about $930 for an ambulance trip from Oswego to Syracuse, he said.

About 600 transfers a year begin at Oswego Hospital. Menter Ambulance, of Fulton, also makes runs on alternate days with city ambulances, unless the patient expresses a preference.

Oswego's Common Council approved the transfer program in late April. The transfers cover patients in the city of Oswego and nearby towns of Oswego, Minetto and Scriba.

Oswego Hospital has agreed to ensure full payment of transfer bills to the city, if patients don't pay the city themselves or through their insurance, Geers said.

In 2004, the city collected 80 percent of the money billed for ambulance transfers, according to city records. The department handles about 3,500 ambulance calls each year.

City Councilor Richard Atkins, D-7th Ward, said it's too soon to pass a verdict on the transfer service.

"Until the numbers are in and we have six months or so of information, it's hard to say whether it's doing well or not," he said. "I'm just waiting to see how it falls out."

Atkins said he wants to know how much money the city collects in payments for transfers, not just the amount it bills patients.

"Theoretical numbers don't make a profit for you," he said.

Northern Oswego County Ambulance offered to take over the billing from the city in a pitch to the Oswego Common Council in January.

Geers projects that the transfer service, once in full effect, will bring in $500,000 a year to the city.

Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 592-7140.

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