Re: MedStar answer times suffer due to sick time

September 29, 2005

Well, they use SSM, what's the difference? It is a public agency, but it is

entrenched in the private SSM way of doing things. They are learning the hard

way that SSM sucks!!!!

Tater

THEDUDMAN@... wrote:

How odd since it is now essentially a public agency...and not private...I

thought only private agencies were mean, cruel, and uncaring....hmmmmm

Dudley

MedStar answer times suffer due to sick time

Posted on Wed, Sep. 28, 2005

MedStar answer times suffer due to sick time

By BILL TEETER

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH -- MedStar isn't meeting response-time

goals because too many employees are taking

unnecessary sick time, MedStar Executive Director Jack

Eades said Wednesday.

From Sept. 1 through Sept. 22, ambulances made it on

time to scenes on " priority 1 " calls 86 percent of the

time, Eades told the agency's board of directors at

their regular monthly meeting.

MedStar, also known as the Area Metropolitan Ambulance

Authority, requires its ambulances to make priority 1

calls in nine minutes or less on at least 90 percent

of their calls.

In April, Rural/Metro, a private ambulance firm,

withdrew from its contract with MedStar because of

poor response times. Since then, MedStar has been

operating as the ambulance provider for the region.

Although MedStar is at nearly full staff after an

aggressive hiring campaign in the wake of

Rural/Metro's departure, some ambulance workers are

taking sick time when they may not really need it,

which creates staff shortages, Eades said.

Employees are allowed four sick days a year but can

accrue up to 13 weeks of unused sick time, Eades said.

There is a misconception among some employees that

they are entitled to take sick days when they are not

really ill, he said.

" We are going to have to adopt a new attendance

policy, " Eades said. " It's going to have to be a lot

tougher than the one used by the contractor. "

To fix the situation, Eades said MedStar is adopting a

policy in which ambulance crew members must be at work

at least 97 percent of their scheduled time. The

time-off percentage will be measured from the most

recent three months of their employment when an

employee calls in sick or takes off other than for

approved vacation or certain other leaves, such as

those covered by the federal Family Medical Leave Act,

Eades said.

The policy is tough but needed, said board President

McMahan.

" They're not unreasonable, " he said.

City Councilwoman Becky Haskin, who sits on the board,

asked Eades how widespread the problem is.

" The worst of it is a few, " Eades said.

MedStar serves Fort Worth and 13 other cities. From

May through July, response times for the system had

met their mark, although some locations continued to

have problems.

The agency's August performance report showed MedStar

made more than 90 percent of its calls on time except

for its less-serious priority 3 calls, which were at

an on-time rate of 89.9 percent.

The board also approved a budget for the next fiscal

year beginning Oct. 1 allowing $18,274,626 in

expenditures, an increase of about $896,000 from the

previous year.

The budget includes $1.5 million in capital outlays

for vehicles and new computer systems that should help

response times in the future, he said.

ONLINE: www.medstar911.com.

Bill Teeter.

______________________________________________________

Yahoo! for Good

Donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/

September 29, 2005

Jim,

I don't follow? So do cops, are they a public agency?

Tater

james davis wrote:

i think they are apseudo public agency cause they pay

into social security.

jim

--- THEDUDMAN@... wrote:

> How odd since it is now essentially a public

> agency...and not private...I thought only private

> agencies were mean, cruel, and uncaring....hmmmmm

>

> Dudley

>

> MedStar answer times suffer

> due to sick time

>

> Posted on Wed, Sep. 28, 2005

>

> MedStar answer times suffer due to sick time

>

> By BILL TEETER

> Star-Telegram Staff Writer

>

> FORT WORTH -- MedStar isn't meeting response-time

> goals because too many employees are taking

> unnecessary sick time, MedStar Executive Director

> Jack

> Eades said Wednesday.

> From Sept. 1 through Sept. 22, ambulances made it on

> time to scenes on " priority 1 " calls 86 percent of

> the

> time, Eades told the agency's board of directors at

> their regular monthly meeting.

>

> MedStar, also known as the Area Metropolitan

> Ambulance

> Authority, requires its ambulances to make priority

> 1

> calls in nine minutes or less on at least 90 percent

> of their calls.

>

> In April, Rural/Metro, a private ambulance firm,

> withdrew from its contract with MedStar because of

> poor response times. Since then, MedStar has been

> operating as the ambulance provider for the region.

>

> Although MedStar is at nearly full staff after an

> aggressive hiring campaign in the wake of

> Rural/Metro's departure, some ambulance workers are

> taking sick time when they may not really need it,

> which creates staff shortages, Eades said.

>

> Employees are allowed four sick days a year but can

> accrue up to 13 weeks of unused sick time, Eades

> said.

> There is a misconception among some employees that

> they are entitled to take sick days when they are

> not

> really ill, he said.

>

> " We are going to have to adopt a new attendance

> policy, " Eades said. " It's going to have to be a lot

> tougher than the one used by the contractor. "

>

> To fix the situation, Eades said MedStar is adopting

> a

> policy in which ambulance crew members must be at

> work

> at least 97 percent of their scheduled time. The

> time-off percentage will be measured from the most

> recent three months of their employment when an

> employee calls in sick or takes off other than for

> approved vacation or certain other leaves, such as

> those covered by the federal Family Medical Leave

> Act,

> Eades said.

>

> The policy is tough but needed, said board President

> McMahan.

>

> " They're not unreasonable, " he said.

>

> City Councilwoman Becky Haskin, who sits on the

> board,

> asked Eades how widespread the problem is.

>

> " The worst of it is a few, " Eades said.

>

> MedStar serves Fort Worth and 13 other cities. From

> May through July, response times for the system had

> met their mark, although some locations continued to

> have problems.

>

> The agency's August performance report showed

> MedStar

> made more than 90 percent of its calls on time

> except

> for its less-serious priority 3 calls, which were at

> an on-time rate of 89.9 percent.

>

> The board also approved a budget for the next fiscal

> year beginning Oct. 1 allowing $18,274,626 in

> expenditures, an increase of about $896,000 from the

> previous year.

>

> The budget includes $1.5 million in capital outlays

> for vehicles and new computer systems that should

> help

> response times in the future, he said.

>

> ONLINE: www.medstar911.com.

>

> Bill Teeter.

>

______________________________________________________

>

> Yahoo! for Good

> Donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

> http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/

>

September 29, 2005

Jim,

I don't follow? So do cops, are they a public agency?

Tater

james davis wrote:

i think they are apseudo public agency cause they pay

into social security.

jim

--- THEDUDMAN@... wrote:

> How odd since it is now essentially a public

> agency...and not private...I thought only private

> agencies were mean, cruel, and uncaring....hmmmmm

>

> Dudley

>

> MedStar answer times suffer

> due to sick time

>

> Posted on Wed, Sep. 28, 2005

>

> MedStar answer times suffer due to sick time

>

> By BILL TEETER

> Star-Telegram Staff Writer

>

> FORT WORTH -- MedStar isn't meeting response-time

> goals because too many employees are taking

> unnecessary sick time, MedStar Executive Director

> Jack

> Eades said Wednesday.

> From Sept. 1 through Sept. 22, ambulances made it on

> time to scenes on " priority 1 " calls 86 percent of

> the

> time, Eades told the agency's board of directors at

> their regular monthly meeting.

>

> MedStar, also known as the Area Metropolitan

> Ambulance

> Authority, requires its ambulances to make priority

> 1

> calls in nine minutes or less on at least 90 percent

> of their calls.

>

> In April, Rural/Metro, a private ambulance firm,

> withdrew from its contract with MedStar because of

> poor response times. Since then, MedStar has been

> operating as the ambulance provider for the region.

>

> Although MedStar is at nearly full staff after an

> aggressive hiring campaign in the wake of

> Rural/Metro's departure, some ambulance workers are

> taking sick time when they may not really need it,

> which creates staff shortages, Eades said.

>

> Employees are allowed four sick days a year but can

> accrue up to 13 weeks of unused sick time, Eades

> said.

> There is a misconception among some employees that

> they are entitled to take sick days when they are

> not

> really ill, he said.

>

> " We are going to have to adopt a new attendance

> policy, " Eades said. " It's going to have to be a lot

> tougher than the one used by the contractor. "

>

> To fix the situation, Eades said MedStar is adopting

> a

> policy in which ambulance crew members must be at

> work

> at least 97 percent of their scheduled time. The

> time-off percentage will be measured from the most

> recent three months of their employment when an

> employee calls in sick or takes off other than for

> approved vacation or certain other leaves, such as

> those covered by the federal Family Medical Leave

> Act,

> Eades said.

>

> The policy is tough but needed, said board President

> McMahan.

>

> " They're not unreasonable, " he said.

>

> City Councilwoman Becky Haskin, who sits on the

> board,

> asked Eades how widespread the problem is.

>

> " The worst of it is a few, " Eades said.

>

> MedStar serves Fort Worth and 13 other cities. From

> May through July, response times for the system had

> met their mark, although some locations continued to

> have problems.

>

> The agency's August performance report showed

> MedStar

> made more than 90 percent of its calls on time

> except

> for its less-serious priority 3 calls, which were at

> an on-time rate of 89.9 percent.

>

> The board also approved a budget for the next fiscal

> year beginning Oct. 1 allowing $18,274,626 in

> expenditures, an increase of about $896,000 from the

> previous year.

>

> The budget includes $1.5 million in capital outlays

> for vehicles and new computer systems that should

> help

> response times in the future, he said.

>

> ONLINE: www.medstar911.com.

>

> Bill Teeter.

>

______________________________________________________

>

> Yahoo! for Good

> Donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

> http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/

>

September 29, 2005

At MedStar we have 1 24 hr truck and multiple 12 and

16 hr shifts.

--- " E. Tate " wrote:

>

> I think MedStar is being a bit unreasonable here. I

> agree that employee absenteeism can become a

> problem. Instead of creating (again another classic

> American knee-jerk reaction) a blanket policy that

> creates more work and oversight, why not determine

> the reason for the (alleged) excessive absence? If

> absenteeism is a problem there is an underlying

> cause.

>

> According the article the employees must be at work

> 97% of their scheduled time. Given a 24 / 48 shift

> (I have no clue what MedStar works) that’s 22.32

> hours they can miss in a 3 month period. If the

> shift is a rotating 12 that’s 16.38 hours off. So,

> either way it’s 1 shift +/- in a 3 month period.

> Since their policy is 4 shifts per year, this seems

> somewhat reasonable. If " The worst of it is a few”,

> they need to concentrate on the few.

>

> Personally, I don’t believe in calling in sick

> unless necessary. However, I do believe it’s my

> right to call in sick if I need a “mental health”

> day. If I am not 100% mentally prepared for work,

> do you want me doing the things we do? I don’t

> expect anyone to call in sick, and then be seen out

> gallivanting around town. If you’re too sick to

> work, keep your sick @$$ at home and rest.

>

> I’m a firm believer that “benefit time” is just

> that, a benefit of the job. I also believe an

> employee should be allowed to use that time as they

> see fit for both their physical and mental health.

>

> Personally, this all sounds like an excuse for some

> other failure in the system. You can’t convince me

> that they are shutting down trucks because of

> absenteeism. If they aren’t shutting down trucks,

> why are they falling below standards? Must be that

> computer system they are replacing and the SSM

> software they’re using. Maybe once they get the new

> one up and running it’ll be better at predicting the

> next call and their call times will decrease. (I’m

> only kidding about SSM helping……………..)

>

> Tater

>

> Will M wrote:

> Posted on Wed, Sep. 28, 2005

>

> MedStar answer times suffer due to sick time

>

> By BILL TEETER

> Star-Telegram Staff Writer

>

> FORT WORTH -- MedStar isn't meeting response-time

> goals because too many employees are taking

> unnecessary sick time, MedStar Executive Director

> Jack

> Eades said Wednesday.

> From Sept. 1 through Sept. 22, ambulances made it on

> time to scenes on " priority 1 " calls 86 percent of

> the

> time, Eades told the agency's board of directors at

> their regular monthly meeting.

>

> MedStar, also known as the Area Metropolitan

> Ambulance

> Authority, requires its ambulances to make priority

> 1

> calls in nine minutes or less on at least 90 percent

> of their calls.

>

> In April, Rural/Metro, a private ambulance firm,

> withdrew from its contract with MedStar because of

> poor response times. Since then, MedStar has been

> operating as the ambulance provider for the region.

>

> Although MedStar is at nearly full staff after an

> aggressive hiring campaign in the wake of

> Rural/Metro's departure, some ambulance workers are

> taking sick time when they may not really need it,

> which creates staff shortages, Eades said.

>

> Employees are allowed four sick days a year but can

> accrue up to 13 weeks of unused sick time, Eades

> said.

> There is a misconception among some employees that

> they are entitled to take sick days when they are

> not

> really ill, he said.

>

> " We are going to have to adopt a new attendance

> policy, " Eades said. " It's going to have to be a lot

> tougher than the one used by the contractor. "

>

> To fix the situation, Eades said MedStar is adopting

> a

> policy in which ambulance crew members must be at

> work

> at least 97 percent of their scheduled time. The

> time-off percentage will be measured from the most

> recent three months of their employment when an

> employee calls in sick or takes off other than for

> approved vacation or certain other leaves, such as

> those covered by the federal Family Medical Leave

> Act,

> Eades said.

>

> The policy is tough but needed, said board President

> McMahan.

>

> " They're not unreasonable, " he said.

>

> City Councilwoman Becky Haskin, who sits on the

> board,

> asked Eades how widespread the problem is.

>

> " The worst of it is a few, " Eades said.

>

> MedStar serves Fort Worth and 13 other cities. From

> May through July, response times for the system had

> met their mark, although some locations continued to

> have problems.

>

> The agency's August performance report showed

> MedStar

> made more than 90 percent of its calls on time

> except

> for its less-serious priority 3 calls, which were at

> an on-time rate of 89.9 percent.

>

> The board also approved a budget for the next fiscal

> year beginning Oct. 1 allowing $18,274,626 in

> expenditures, an increase of about $896,000 from the

> previous year.

>

> The budget includes $1.5 million in capital outlays

> for vehicles and new computer systems that should

> help

> response times in the future, he said.

>

> ONLINE: www.medstar911.com.

>

> Bill Teeter.

>

______________________________________________________

>

> Yahoo! for Good

> Donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

> http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/

>

September 29, 2005

Most of the TMRS employees I know also pay into SS. In fact, I can't think of

any that don't.

james davis wrote:

i think back in '86 municipalities had to choose 1)

TMRS 2) SS or 3) both most municipalities and other

political subdivisions of the state counties, ISD

(independent sports districts whoops!,etc) dont pay

into that (SS) but have other primary retirement

jim

--- THEDUDMAN@... wrote:

> Jim,

>

> I work for a non-pseudo public agency, the City of

> Schertz which is an incorporated city, a

> sub-division of the State of Texas...and we pay into

> the Social Security system as well.

>

> Dudley

>

> MedStar answer times suffer

> > due to sick time

> >

> > Posted on Wed, Sep. 28, 2005

> >

> > MedStar answer times suffer due to sick time

> >

> > By BILL TEETER

> > Star-Telegram Staff Writer

> >

> > FORT WORTH -- MedStar isn't meeting response-time

> > goals because too many employees are taking

> > unnecessary sick time, MedStar Executive Director

> > Jack

> > Eades said Wednesday.

> > From Sept. 1 through Sept. 22, ambulances made it

> on

> > time to scenes on " priority 1 " calls 86 percent of

> > the

> > time, Eades told the agency's board of directors

> at

> > their regular monthly meeting.

> >

> > MedStar, also known as the Area Metropolitan

> > Ambulance

> > Authority, requires its ambulances to make

> priority

> > 1

> > calls in nine minutes or less on at least 90

> percent

> > of their calls.

> >

> > In April, Rural/Metro, a private ambulance firm,

> > withdrew from its contract with MedStar because of

> > poor response times. Since then, MedStar has been

> > operating as the ambulance provider for the

> region.

> >

> > Although MedStar is at nearly full staff after an

> > aggressive hiring campaign in the wake of

> > Rural/Metro's departure, some ambulance workers

> are

> > taking sick time when they may not really need it,

> > which creates staff shortages, Eades said.

> >

> > Employees are allowed four sick days a year but

> can

> > accrue up to 13 weeks of unused sick time, Eades

> > said.

> > There is a misconception among some employees that

> > they are entitled to take sick days when they are

> > not

> > really ill, he said.

> >

> > " We are going to have to adopt a new attendance

> > policy, " Eades said. " It's going to have to be a

> lot

> > tougher than the one used by the contractor. "

> >

> > To fix the situation, Eades said MedStar is

> adopting

> > a

> > policy in which ambulance crew members must be at

> > work

> > at least 97 percent of their scheduled time. The

> > time-off percentage will be measured from the most

> > recent three months of their employment when an

> > employee calls in sick or takes off other than for

> > approved vacation or certain other leaves, such as

> > those covered by the federal Family Medical Leave

> > Act,

> > Eades said.

> >

> > The policy is tough but needed, said board

> President

> > McMahan.

> >

> > " They're not unreasonable, " he said.

> >

> > City Councilwoman Becky Haskin, who sits on the

> > board,

> > asked Eades how widespread the problem is.

> >

> > " The worst of it is a few, " Eades said.

> >

> > MedStar serves Fort Worth and 13 other cities.

> From

> > May through July, response times for the system

> had

> > met their mark, although some locations continued

> to

> > have problems.

> >

> > The agency's August performance report showed

> > MedStar

> > made more than 90 percent of its calls on time

> > except

> > for its less-serious priority 3 calls, which were

> at

> > an on-time rate of 89.9 percent.

> >

> > The board also approved a budget for the next

> fiscal

> > year beginning Oct. 1 allowing $18,274,626 in

> > expenditures, an increase of about $896,000 from

> the

> > previous year.

> >

> > The budget includes $1.5 million in capital

> outlays

>

=== message truncated ===

__________________________________

Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005

http://mail.yahoo.com

September 29, 2005

Most of the TMRS employees I know also pay into SS. In fact, I can't think of

any that don't.

james davis wrote:

i think back in '86 municipalities had to choose 1)

TMRS 2) SS or 3) both most municipalities and other

political subdivisions of the state counties, ISD

(independent sports districts whoops!,etc) dont pay

into that (SS) but have other primary retirement

jim

--- THEDUDMAN@... wrote:

> Jim,

>

> I work for a non-pseudo public agency, the City of

> Schertz which is an incorporated city, a

> sub-division of the State of Texas...and we pay into

> the Social Security system as well.

>

> Dudley

>

> MedStar answer times suffer

> > due to sick time

> >

> > Posted on Wed, Sep. 28, 2005

> >

> > MedStar answer times suffer due to sick time

> >

> > By BILL TEETER

> > Star-Telegram Staff Writer

> >

> > FORT WORTH -- MedStar isn't meeting response-time

> > goals because too many employees are taking

> > unnecessary sick time, MedStar Executive Director

> > Jack

> > Eades said Wednesday.

> > From Sept. 1 through Sept. 22, ambulances made it

> on

> > time to scenes on " priority 1 " calls 86 percent of

> > the

> > time, Eades told the agency's board of directors

> at

> > their regular monthly meeting.

> >

> > MedStar, also known as the Area Metropolitan

> > Ambulance

> > Authority, requires its ambulances to make

> priority

> > 1

> > calls in nine minutes or less on at least 90

> percent

> > of their calls.

> >

> > In April, Rural/Metro, a private ambulance firm,

> > withdrew from its contract with MedStar because of

> > poor response times. Since then, MedStar has been

> > operating as the ambulance provider for the

> region.

> >

> > Although MedStar is at nearly full staff after an

> > aggressive hiring campaign in the wake of

> > Rural/Metro's departure, some ambulance workers

> are

> > taking sick time when they may not really need it,

> > which creates staff shortages, Eades said.

> >

> > Employees are allowed four sick days a year but

> can

> > accrue up to 13 weeks of unused sick time, Eades

> > said.

> > There is a misconception among some employees that

> > they are entitled to take sick days when they are

> > not

> > really ill, he said.

> >

> > " We are going to have to adopt a new attendance

> > policy, " Eades said. " It's going to have to be a

> lot

> > tougher than the one used by the contractor. "

> >

> > To fix the situation, Eades said MedStar is

> adopting

> > a

> > policy in which ambulance crew members must be at

> > work

> > at least 97 percent of their scheduled time. The

> > time-off percentage will be measured from the most

> > recent three months of their employment when an

> > employee calls in sick or takes off other than for

> > approved vacation or certain other leaves, such as

> > those covered by the federal Family Medical Leave

> > Act,

> > Eades said.

> >

> > The policy is tough but needed, said board

> President

> > McMahan.

> >

> > " They're not unreasonable, " he said.

> >

> > City Councilwoman Becky Haskin, who sits on the

> > board,

> > asked Eades how widespread the problem is.

> >

> > " The worst of it is a few, " Eades said.

> >

> > MedStar serves Fort Worth and 13 other cities.

> From

> > May through July, response times for the system

> had

> > met their mark, although some locations continued

> to

> > have problems.

> >

> > The agency's August performance report showed

> > MedStar

> > made more than 90 percent of its calls on time

> > except

> > for its less-serious priority 3 calls, which were

> at

> > an on-time rate of 89.9 percent.

> >

> > The board also approved a budget for the next

> fiscal

> > year beginning Oct. 1 allowing $18,274,626 in

> > expenditures, an increase of about $896,000 from

> the

> > previous year.

> >

> > The budget includes $1.5 million in capital

> outlays

>

=== message truncated ===

__________________________________

Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005

http://mail.yahoo.com

September 29, 2005

i worked somewhere once where to take sick time they

" required " that you bring a receipt from the doctors'

office with a dx code on it. we called the union. they

said no. a small amount of hell was raised and they

changed their minds.

jim

--- " E. Tate " wrote:

>

> I think MedStar is being a bit unreasonable here. I

> agree that employee absenteeism can become a

> problem. Instead of creating (again another classic

> American knee-jerk reaction) a blanket policy that

> creates more work and oversight, why not determine

> the reason for the (alleged) excessive absence? If

> absenteeism is a problem there is an underlying

> cause.

>

> According the article the employees must be at work

> 97% of their scheduled time. Given a 24 / 48 shift

> (I have no clue what MedStar works) that’s 22.32

> hours they can miss in a 3 month period. If the

> shift is a rotating 12 that’s 16.38 hours off. So,

> either way it’s 1 shift +/- in a 3 month period.

> Since their policy is 4 shifts per year, this seems

> somewhat reasonable. If " The worst of it is a few”,

> they need to concentrate on the few.

>

> Personally, I don’t believe in calling in sick

> unless necessary. However, I do believe it’s my

> right to call in sick if I need a “mental health”

> day. If I am not 100% mentally prepared for work,

> do you want me doing the things we do? I don’t

> expect anyone to call in sick, and then be seen out

> gallivanting around town. If you’re too sick to

> work, keep your sick @$$ at home and rest.

>

> I’m a firm believer that “benefit time” is just

> that, a benefit of the job. I also believe an

> employee should be allowed to use that time as they

> see fit for both their physical and mental health.

>

> Personally, this all sounds like an excuse for some

> other failure in the system. You can’t convince me

> that they are shutting down trucks because of

> absenteeism. If they aren’t shutting down trucks,

> why are they falling below standards? Must be that

> computer system they are replacing and the SSM

> software they’re using. Maybe once they get the new

> one up and running it’ll be better at predicting the

> next call and their call times will decrease. (I’m

> only kidding about SSM helping……………..)

>

> Tater

>

> Will M wrote:

> Posted on Wed, Sep. 28, 2005

>

> MedStar answer times suffer due to sick time

>

> By BILL TEETER

> Star-Telegram Staff Writer

>

> FORT WORTH -- MedStar isn't meeting response-time

> goals because too many employees are taking

> unnecessary sick time, MedStar Executive Director

> Jack

> Eades said Wednesday.

> From Sept. 1 through Sept. 22, ambulances made it on

> time to scenes on " priority 1 " calls 86 percent of

> the

> time, Eades told the agency's board of directors at

> their regular monthly meeting.

>

> MedStar, also known as the Area Metropolitan

> Ambulance

> Authority, requires its ambulances to make priority

> 1

> calls in nine minutes or less on at least 90 percent

> of their calls.

>

> In April, Rural/Metro, a private ambulance firm,

> withdrew from its contract with MedStar because of

> poor response times. Since then, MedStar has been

> operating as the ambulance provider for the region.

>

> Although MedStar is at nearly full staff after an

> aggressive hiring campaign in the wake of

> Rural/Metro's departure, some ambulance workers are

> taking sick time when they may not really need it,

> which creates staff shortages, Eades said.

>

> Employees are allowed four sick days a year but can

> accrue up to 13 weeks of unused sick time, Eades

> said.

> There is a misconception among some employees that

> they are entitled to take sick days when they are

> not

> really ill, he said.

>

> " We are going to have to adopt a new attendance

> policy, " Eades said. " It's going to have to be a lot

> tougher than the one used by the contractor. "

>

> To fix the situation, Eades said MedStar is adopting

> a

> policy in which ambulance crew members must be at

> work

> at least 97 percent of their scheduled time. The

> time-off percentage will be measured from the most

> recent three months of their employment when an

> employee calls in sick or takes off other than for

> approved vacation or certain other leaves, such as

> those covered by the federal Family Medical Leave

> Act,

> Eades said.

>

> The policy is tough but needed, said board President

> McMahan.

>

> " They're not unreasonable, " he said.

>

> City Councilwoman Becky Haskin, who sits on the

> board,

> asked Eades how widespread the problem is.

>

> " The worst of it is a few, " Eades said.

>

> MedStar serves Fort Worth and 13 other cities. From

> May through July, response times for the system had

> met their mark, although some locations continued to

> have problems.

>

> The agency's August performance report showed

> MedStar

> made more than 90 percent of its calls on time

> except

> for its less-serious priority 3 calls, which were at

> an on-time rate of 89.9 percent.

>

> The board also approved a budget for the next fiscal

> year beginning Oct. 1 allowing $18,274,626 in

> expenditures, an increase of about $896,000 from the

> previous year.

>

> The budget includes $1.5 million in capital outlays

> for vehicles and new computer systems that should

> help

> response times in the future, he said.

>

> ONLINE: www.medstar911.com.

>

> Bill Teeter.

>

______________________________________________________

>

> Yahoo! for Good

> Donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

> http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/

>

September 29, 2005

i worked somewhere once where to take sick time they

" required " that you bring a receipt from the doctors'

office with a dx code on it. we called the union. they

said no. a small amount of hell was raised and they

changed their minds.

jim

--- " E. Tate " wrote:

>

> I think MedStar is being a bit unreasonable here. I

> agree that employee absenteeism can become a

> problem. Instead of creating (again another classic

> American knee-jerk reaction) a blanket policy that

> creates more work and oversight, why not determine

> the reason for the (alleged) excessive absence? If

> absenteeism is a problem there is an underlying

> cause.

>

> According the article the employees must be at work

> 97% of their scheduled time. Given a 24 / 48 shift

> (I have no clue what MedStar works) that’s 22.32

> hours they can miss in a 3 month period. If the

> shift is a rotating 12 that’s 16.38 hours off. So,

> either way it’s 1 shift +/- in a 3 month period.

> Since their policy is 4 shifts per year, this seems

> somewhat reasonable. If " The worst of it is a few”,

> they need to concentrate on the few.

>

> Personally, I don’t believe in calling in sick

> unless necessary. However, I do believe it’s my

> right to call in sick if I need a “mental health”

> day. If I am not 100% mentally prepared for work,

> do you want me doing the things we do? I don’t

> expect anyone to call in sick, and then be seen out

> gallivanting around town. If you’re too sick to

> work, keep your sick @$$ at home and rest.

>

> I’m a firm believer that “benefit time” is just

> that, a benefit of the job. I also believe an

> employee should be allowed to use that time as they

> see fit for both their physical and mental health.

>

> Personally, this all sounds like an excuse for some

> other failure in the system. You can’t convince me

> that they are shutting down trucks because of

> absenteeism. If they aren’t shutting down trucks,

> why are they falling below standards? Must be that

> computer system they are replacing and the SSM

> software they’re using. Maybe once they get the new

> one up and running it’ll be better at predicting the

> next call and their call times will decrease. (I’m

> only kidding about SSM helping……………..)

>

> Tater

>

> Will M wrote:

> Posted on Wed, Sep. 28, 2005

>

> MedStar answer times suffer due to sick time

>

> By BILL TEETER

> Star-Telegram Staff Writer

>

> FORT WORTH -- MedStar isn't meeting response-time

> goals because too many employees are taking

> unnecessary sick time, MedStar Executive Director

> Jack

> Eades said Wednesday.

> From Sept. 1 through Sept. 22, ambulances made it on

> time to scenes on " priority 1 " calls 86 percent of

> the

> time, Eades told the agency's board of directors at

> their regular monthly meeting.

>

> MedStar, also known as the Area Metropolitan

> Ambulance

> Authority, requires its ambulances to make priority

> 1

> calls in nine minutes or less on at least 90 percent

> of their calls.

>

> In April, Rural/Metro, a private ambulance firm,

> withdrew from its contract with MedStar because of

> poor response times. Since then, MedStar has been

> operating as the ambulance provider for the region.

>

> Although MedStar is at nearly full staff after an

> aggressive hiring campaign in the wake of

> Rural/Metro's departure, some ambulance workers are

> taking sick time when they may not really need it,

> which creates staff shortages, Eades said.

>

> Employees are allowed four sick days a year but can

> accrue up to 13 weeks of unused sick time, Eades

> said.

> There is a misconception among some employees that

> they are entitled to take sick days when they are

> not

> really ill, he said.

>

> " We are going to have to adopt a new attendance

> policy, " Eades said. " It's going to have to be a lot

> tougher than the one used by the contractor. "

>

> To fix the situation, Eades said MedStar is adopting

> a

> policy in which ambulance crew members must be at

> work

> at least 97 percent of their scheduled time. The

> time-off percentage will be measured from the most

> recent three months of their employment when an

> employee calls in sick or takes off other than for

> approved vacation or certain other leaves, such as

> those covered by the federal Family Medical Leave

> Act,

> Eades said.

>

> The policy is tough but needed, said board President

> McMahan.

>

> " They're not unreasonable, " he said.

>

> City Councilwoman Becky Haskin, who sits on the

> board,

> asked Eades how widespread the problem is.

>

> " The worst of it is a few, " Eades said.

>

> MedStar serves Fort Worth and 13 other cities. From

> May through July, response times for the system had

> met their mark, although some locations continued to

> have problems.

>

> The agency's August performance report showed

> MedStar

> made more than 90 percent of its calls on time

> except

> for its less-serious priority 3 calls, which were at

> an on-time rate of 89.9 percent.

>

> The board also approved a budget for the next fiscal

> year beginning Oct. 1 allowing $18,274,626 in

> expenditures, an increase of about $896,000 from the

> previous year.

>

> The budget includes $1.5 million in capital outlays

> for vehicles and new computer systems that should

> help

> response times in the future, he said.

>

> ONLINE: www.medstar911.com.

>

> Bill Teeter.

>

______________________________________________________

>

> Yahoo! for Good

> Donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

> http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/

>

September 29, 2005

City of Galveston

MedStar answer times suffer

> > due to sick time

> >

> > Posted on Wed, Sep. 28, 2005

> >

> > MedStar answer times suffer due to sick time

> >

> > By BILL TEETER

> > Star-Telegram Staff Writer

> >

> > FORT WORTH -- MedStar isn't meeting response-time

> > goals because too many employees are taking

> > unnecessary sick time, MedStar Executive Director

> > Jack

> > Eades said Wednesday.

> > From Sept. 1 through Sept. 22, ambulances made it

> on

> > time to scenes on " priority 1 " calls 86 percent of

> > the

> > time, Eades told the agency's board of directors

> at

> > their regular monthly meeting.

> >

> > MedStar, also known as the Area Metropolitan

> > Ambulance

> > Authority, requires its ambulances to make

> priority

> > 1

> > calls in nine minutes or less on at least 90

> percent

> > of their calls.

> >

> > In April, Rural/Metro, a private ambulance firm,

> > withdrew from its contract with MedStar because of

> > poor response times. Since then, MedStar has been

> > operating as the ambulance provider for the

> region.

> >

> > Although MedStar is at nearly full staff after an

> > aggressive hiring campaign in the wake of

> > Rural/Metro's departure, some ambulance workers

> are

> > taking sick time when they may not really need it,

> > which creates staff shortages, Eades said.

> >

> > Employees are allowed four sick days a year but

> can

> > accrue up to 13 weeks of unused sick time, Eades

> > said.

> > There is a misconception among some employees that

> > they are entitled to take sick days when they are

> > not

> > really ill, he said.

> >

> > " We are going to have to adopt a new attendance

> > policy, " Eades said. " It's going to have to be a

> lot

> > tougher than the one used by the contractor. "

> >

> > To fix the situation, Eades said MedStar is

> adopting

> > a

> > policy in which ambulance crew members must be at

> > work

> > at least 97 percent of their scheduled time. The

> > time-off percentage will be measured from the most

> > recent three months of their employment when an

> > employee calls in sick or takes off other than for

> > approved vacation or certain other leaves, such as

> > those covered by the federal Family Medical Leave

> > Act,

> > Eades said.

> >

> > The policy is tough but needed, said board

> President

> > McMahan.

> >

> > " They're not unreasonable, " he said.

> >

> > City Councilwoman Becky Haskin, who sits on the

> > board,

> > asked Eades how widespread the problem is.

> >

> > " The worst of it is a few, " Eades said.

> >

> > MedStar serves Fort Worth and 13 other cities.

> From

> > May through July, response times for the system

> had

> > met their mark, although some locations continued

> to

> > have problems.

> >

> > The agency's August performance report showed

> > MedStar

> > made more than 90 percent of its calls on time

> > except

> > for its less-serious priority 3 calls, which were

> at

> > an on-time rate of 89.9 percent.

> >

> > The board also approved a budget for the next

> fiscal

> > year beginning Oct. 1 allowing $18,274,626 in

> > expenditures, an increase of about $896,000 from

> the

> > previous year.

> >

> > The budget includes $1.5 million in capital

> outlays

>

=== message truncated ===

__________________________________

Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005

http://mail.yahoo.com

September 30, 2005

This is just another example of an unreasonable demand by impersonal

administrators. So now when I’m sick, I have to take your no-paying insurance

to the expensive as heck doctor for a note saying I was running a fever and

can’t work. I’ll submit that note along with a reimbursement voucher?

Tater

james davis wrote:i worked somewhere once where to

take sick time they

" required " that you bring a receipt from the doctors'

office with a dx code on it. we called the union. they

said no. a small amount of hell was raised and they

changed their minds.

jim

--- " E. Tate " wrote:

>

> I think MedStar is being a bit unreasonable here. I

> agree that employee absenteeism can become a

> problem. Instead of creating (again another classic

> American knee-jerk reaction) a blanket policy that

> creates more work and oversight, why not determine

> the reason for the (alleged) excessive absence? If

> absenteeism is a problem there is an underlying

> cause.

>

> According the article the employees must be at work

> 97% of their scheduled time. Given a 24 / 48 shift

> (I have no clue what MedStar works) that’s 22.32

> hours they can miss in a 3 month period. If the

> shift is a rotating 12 that’s 16.38 hours off. So,

> either way it’s 1 shift +/- in a 3 month period.

> Since their policy is 4 shifts per year, this seems

> somewhat reasonable. If " The worst of it is a few”,

> they need to concentrate on the few.

>

> Personally, I don’t believe in calling in sick

> unless necessary. However, I do believe it’s my

> right to call in sick if I need a “mental health”

> day. If I am not 100% mentally prepared for work,

> do you want me doing the things we do? I don’t

> expect anyone to call in sick, and then be seen out

> gallivanting around town. If you’re too sick to

> work, keep your sick @$$ at home and rest.

>

> I’m a firm believer that “benefit time” is just

> that, a benefit of the job. I also believe an

> employee should be allowed to use that time as they

> see fit for both their physical and mental health.

>

> Personally, this all sounds like an excuse for some

> other failure in the system. You can’t convince me

> that they are shutting down trucks because of

> absenteeism. If they aren’t shutting down trucks,

> why are they falling below standards? Must be that

> computer system they are replacing and the SSM

> software they’re using. Maybe once they get the new

> one up and running it’ll be better at predicting the

> next call and their call times will decrease. (I’m

> only kidding about SSM helping……………..)

>

> Tater

>

> Will M wrote:

> Posted on Wed, Sep. 28, 2005

>

> MedStar answer times suffer due to sick time

>

> By BILL TEETER

> Star-Telegram Staff Writer

>

> FORT WORTH -- MedStar isn't meeting response-time

> goals because too many employees are taking

> unnecessary sick time, MedStar Executive Director

> Jack

> Eades said Wednesday.

> From Sept. 1 through Sept. 22, ambulances made it on

> time to scenes on " priority 1 " calls 86 percent of

> the

> time, Eades told the agency's board of directors at

> their regular monthly meeting.

>

> MedStar, also known as the Area Metropolitan

> Ambulance

> Authority, requires its ambulances to make priority

> 1

> calls in nine minutes or less on at least 90 percent

> of their calls.

>

> In April, Rural/Metro, a private ambulance firm,

> withdrew from its contract with MedStar because of

> poor response times. Since then, MedStar has been

> operating as the ambulance provider for the region.

>

> Although MedStar is at nearly full staff after an

> aggressive hiring campaign in the wake of

> Rural/Metro's departure, some ambulance workers are

> taking sick time when they may not really need it,

> which creates staff shortages, Eades said.

>

> Employees are allowed four sick days a year but can

> accrue up to 13 weeks of unused sick time, Eades

> said.

> There is a misconception among some employees that

> they are entitled to take sick days when they are

> not

> really ill, he said.

>

> " We are going to have to adopt a new attendance

> policy, " Eades said. " It's going to have to be a lot

> tougher than the one used by the contractor. "

>

> To fix the situation, Eades said MedStar is adopting

> a

> policy in which ambulance crew members must be at

> work

> at least 97 percent of their scheduled time. The

> time-off percentage will be measured from the most

> recent three months of their employment when an

> employee calls in sick or takes off other than for

> approved vacation or certain other leaves, such as

> those covered by the federal Family Medical Leave

> Act,

> Eades said.

>

> The policy is tough but needed, said board President

> McMahan.

>

> " They're not unreasonable, " he said.

>

> City Councilwoman Becky Haskin, who sits on the

> board,

> asked Eades how widespread the problem is.

>

> " The worst of it is a few, " Eades said.

>

> MedStar serves Fort Worth and 13 other cities. From

> May through July, response times for the system had

> met their mark, although some locations continued to

> have problems.

>

> The agency's August performance report showed

> MedStar

> made more than 90 percent of its calls on time

> except

> for its less-serious priority 3 calls, which were at

> an on-time rate of 89.9 percent.

>

> The board also approved a budget for the next fiscal

> year beginning Oct. 1 allowing $18,274,626 in

> expenditures, an increase of about $896,000 from the

> previous year.

>

> The budget includes $1.5 million in capital outlays

> for vehicles and new computer systems that should

> help

> response times in the future, he said.

>

> ONLINE: www.medstar911.com.

>

> Bill Teeter.

>

______________________________________________________

>

> Yahoo! for Good

> Donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

> http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/

>

September 30, 2005

What you may have been paying into is the medicare portion of social

security. I don't remember the exact percentages but part of the SS

deduction is for social security retirement and SSI, the other part is

for medicare. In the early 80's public employers were given a one time

option to stay into SS/SSI and most opted out. After the deadline you

were required to pay into the medicare portion but exempt from SS

retirement and SSI.

AJL

________________________________

From: [mailto: ] On

Behalf Of lnmolino@...

Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 11:37 PM

To:

Subject: Re: MedStar answer times suffer due to sick time

In a message dated 9/29/2005 10:24:17 P.M. Central Daylight Time,

texaslp@... writes:

Most of the TMRS employees I know also pay into SS. In fact, I can't

think

of any that don't.

When I was TRS I paid SS that I can attest too.

Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET

FF/NREMT-B/FSI/EMSI

LNMolino@...

(Office)

(Cell Phone)

(Office Fax)

" A Texan with a Jersey Attitude "

The comments contained in this E-mail are the opinions of the author

and the

author alone. I in no way ever intend to speak for any person or

organization that I am in any way whatsoever involved or associated

with unless I

specifically state that I am doing so. Further this E-mail is intended

only for its

stated recipient and may contain private and or confidential materials

retransmission is strictly prohibited unless placed in the public

domain by the

original author.

September 30, 2005

Some employers also opted out of medicare and then had no SS deduction

at all, but I believe most stayed in. With many employers cutting

retirement medical benefits this will hurt quite a few people who opted

out of both systems.

AJL

________________________________

From: [mailto: ] On

Behalf Of Alan Lambert

Sent: Friday, September 30, 2005 7:19 AM

To:

Subject: RE: MedStar answer times suffer due to sick time

What you may have been paying into is the medicare portion of social

security. I don't remember the exact percentages but part of the SS

deduction is for social security retirement and SSI, the other part is

for medicare. In the early 80's public employers were given a one time

option to stay into SS/SSI and most opted out. After the deadline you

were required to pay into the medicare portion but exempt from SS

retirement and SSI.

AJL

________________________________

From: [mailto: ] On

Behalf Of lnmolino@...

Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 11:37 PM

To:

Subject: Re: MedStar answer times suffer due to sick time

In a message dated 9/29/2005 10:24:17 P.M. Central Daylight Time,

texaslp@... writes:

Most of the TMRS employees I know also pay into SS. In fact, I can't

think

of any that don't.

When I was TRS I paid SS that I can attest too.

Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET

FF/NREMT-B/FSI/EMSI

LNMolino@...

(Office)

(Cell Phone)

(Office Fax)

" A Texan with a Jersey Attitude "

The comments contained in this E-mail are the opinions of the author

and the

author alone. I in no way ever intend to speak for any person or

organization that I am in any way whatsoever involved or associated

with unless I

specifically state that I am doing so. Further this E-mail is intended

only for its

stated recipient and may contain private and or confidential materials

retransmission is strictly prohibited unless placed in the public

domain by the

original author.

September 30, 2005

The gentleman that wrote that article, to my understanding, was in attendance of

one of our " meetings " . Unfortunately he left out all the good and made the

entire article about the absenteeism. Yes, absenteeism is a habitual problem

with some, but not all employees. There are also a lot of other issues, that

were left out. In Jack Eades defense, he at no time blamed the compliance issue

on the crews solely. Yes, there are days where we have been down a few shifts,

and at times that would contribute, but there are other factors as well. Thanks

to a gentleman that came in from another busy system (which shall remain

nameless), we have a new posting plan as well. This posting plan has at times

helped, but in the most part, has not helped so much. However, we have been

hiring more medics, which will allow us to add more units to the schedule and

more units to this posting plan. Once the new units and hours are added, this

plan may work in this growing system.

From a crew stand point, this new absentee policy that is being put into place

is not rubbing us well. First of all, most of us only hear dof this policy

through reading that article. We work a minimum of 48 hours a week. Four days

on, three days off, 12 hour shifts. With those hours in mind, according to this

new plan, we would be able to take one day off a month without being excessive.

97% attendance is about 12 days off a year. Granted there are those that just

take days off to take days off in our system, you find them anywhere, but it

really wasnt fair to group us as a whole.

There were good points that were brought up as well. Crews that are going over

and beyond, employees that are not excessive. Employees that are making times.

The paper does not note the good points, and instead made a full page article

about something bad, as though attempting to create controversy. We all work

long hours, get held over our shifts for late calls, and bust our rumps to make

compliance in this system, unfortunately there are issues that remain that keep

us from doing this and it is not because of habitual persons that call off sick.

That is a group of maybe 10-15 employees. I beleive this guy wrote this article

strictly to make people look bad and that was in no way Mr. Eades position. It

was just one of many of his concerns.

" E. Tate " wrote:

This is just another example of an unreasonable demand by impersonal

administrators. So now when I’m sick, I have to take your no-paying insurance

to the expensive as heck doctor for a note saying I was running a fever and

can’t work. I’ll submit that note along with a reimbursement voucher?

Tater

james davis wrote:i worked somewhere once where to

take sick time they

" required " that you bring a receipt from the doctors'

office with a dx code on it. we called the union. they

said no. a small amount of hell was raised and they

changed their minds.

jim

--- " E. Tate " wrote:

>

> I think MedStar is being a bit unreasonable here. I

> agree that employee absenteeism can become a

> problem. Instead of creating (again another classic

> American knee-jerk reaction) a blanket policy that

> creates more work and oversight, why not determine

> the reason for the (alleged) excessive absence? If

> absenteeism is a problem there is an underlying

> cause.

>

> According the article the employees must be at work

> 97% of their scheduled time. Given a 24 / 48 shift

> (I have no clue what MedStar works) that’s 22.32

> hours they can miss in a 3 month period. If the

> shift is a rotating 12 that’s 16.38 hours off. So,

> either way it’s 1 shift +/- in a 3 month period.

> Since their policy is 4 shifts per year, this seems

> somewhat reasonable. If " The worst of it is a few”,

> they need to concentrate on the few.

>

> Personally, I don’t believe in calling in sick

> unless necessary. However, I do believe it’s my

> right to call in sick if I need a “mental health”

> day. If I am not 100% mentally prepared for work,

> do you want me doing the things we do? I don’t

> expect anyone to call in sick, and then be seen out

> gallivanting around town. If you’re too sick to

> work, keep your sick @$$ at home and rest.

>

> I’m a firm believer that “benefit time” is just

> that, a benefit of the job. I also believe an

> employee should be allowed to use that time as they

> see fit for both their physical and mental health.

>

> Personally, this all sounds like an excuse for some

> other failure in the system. You can’t convince me

> that they are shutting down trucks because of

> absenteeism. If they aren’t shutting down trucks,

> why are they falling below standards? Must be that

> computer system they are replacing and the SSM

> software they’re using. Maybe once they get the new

> one up and running it’ll be better at predicting the

> next call and their call times will decrease. (I’m

> only kidding about SSM helping……………..)

>

> Tater

>

> Will M wrote:

> Posted on Wed, Sep. 28, 2005

>

> MedStar answer times suffer due to sick time

>

> By BILL TEETER

> Star-Telegram Staff Writer

>

> FORT WORTH -- MedStar isn't meeting response-time

> goals because too many employees are taking

> unnecessary sick time, MedStar Executive Director

> Jack

> Eades said Wednesday.

> From Sept. 1 through Sept. 22, ambulances made it on

> time to scenes on " priority 1 " calls 86 percent of

> the

> time, Eades told the agency's board of directors at

> their regular monthly meeting.

>

> MedStar, also known as the Area Metropolitan

> Ambulance

> Authority, requires its ambulances to make priority

> 1

> calls in nine minutes or less on at least 90 percent

> of their calls.

>

> In April, Rural/Metro, a private ambulance firm,

> withdrew from its contract with MedStar because of

> poor response times. Since then, MedStar has been

> operating as the ambulance provider for the region.

>

> Although MedStar is at nearly full staff after an

> aggressive hiring campaign in the wake of

> Rural/Metro's departure, some ambulance workers are

> taking sick time when they may not really need it,

> which creates staff shortages, Eades said.

>

> Employees are allowed four sick days a year but can

> accrue up to 13 weeks of unused sick time, Eades

> said.

> There is a misconception among some employees that

> they are entitled to take sick days when they are

> not

> really ill, he said.

>

> " We are going to have to adopt a new attendance

> policy, " Eades said. " It's going to have to be a lot

> tougher than the one used by the contractor. "

>

> To fix the situation, Eades said MedStar is adopting

> a

> policy in which ambulance crew members must be at

> work

> at least 97 percent of their scheduled time. The

> time-off percentage will be measured from the most

> recent three months of their employment when an

> employee calls in sick or takes off other than for

> approved vacation or certain other leaves, such as

> those covered by the federal Family Medical Leave

> Act,

> Eades said.

>

> The policy is tough but needed, said board President

> McMahan.

>

> " They're not unreasonable, " he said.

>

> City Councilwoman Becky Haskin, who sits on the

> board,

> asked Eades how widespread the problem is.

>

> " The worst of it is a few, " Eades said.

>

> MedStar serves Fort Worth and 13 other cities. From

> May through July, response times for the system had

> met their mark, although some locations continued to

> have problems.

>

> The agency's August performance report showed

> MedStar

> made more than 90 percent of its calls on time

> except

> for its less-serious priority 3 calls, which were at

> an on-time rate of 89.9 percent.

>

> The board also approved a budget for the next fiscal

> year beginning Oct. 1 allowing $18,274,626 in

> expenditures, an increase of about $896,000 from the

> previous year.

>

> The budget includes $1.5 million in capital outlays

> for vehicles and new computer systems that should

> help

> response times in the future, he said.

>

> ONLINE: www.medstar911.com.

>

> Bill Teeter.

>

______________________________________________________

>

> Yahoo! for Good

> Donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

> http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/

>

September 30, 2005

medicare portion is 1.45% SS portion is 6.2%

TMRS is 5,6 or 7% depending on what agency adopted.

jim

--- Alan Lambert wrote:

> What you may have been paying into is the medicare

> portion of social

> security. I don't remember the exact percentages

> but part of the SS

> deduction is for social security retirement and SSI,

> the other part is

> for medicare. In the early 80's public employers

> were given a one time

> option to stay into SS/SSI and most opted out.

> After the deadline you

> were required to pay into the medicare portion but

> exempt from SS

> retirement and SSI.

>

> AJL

>

> ________________________________

>

> From:

> [mailto: ] On

> Behalf Of lnmolino@...

> Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 11:37 PM

> To:

> Subject: Re: MedStar answer times

> suffer due to sick time

>

> In a message dated 9/29/2005 10:24:17 P.M. Central

> Daylight Time,

> texaslp@... writes:

>

> Most of the TMRS employees I know also pay into SS.

> In fact, I can't

> think

> of any that don't.

>

> When I was TRS I paid SS that I can attest too.

>

> Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET

> FF/NREMT-B/FSI/EMSI

> LNMolino@...

> (Office)

> (Cell Phone)

> (Office Fax)

>

> " A Texan with a Jersey Attitude "

>

> The comments contained in this E-mail are the

> opinions of the author

> and the

> author alone. I in no way ever intend to speak for

> any person or

> organization that I am in any way whatsoever

> involved or associated

> with unless I

> specifically state that I am doing so. Further this

> E-mail is intended

> only for its

> stated recipient and may contain private and or

> confidential materials

> retransmission is strictly prohibited unless placed

> in the public

> domain by the

> original author.

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been

> removed]

>

September 30, 2005

I am a MedStar Employee and am 100% behind Mr. Bledsoe. The fact

of the matter is not JUST that there are those certain employees

that call off sick far too often. There are far more reasons why

MedStar fails to make it's compliance.

When Rural/Metro first announced it's plans to discontinue it's

agreement with the AMAA, (MedStar) the phones in the 80 (supervisor)

office rang off the hook with medics wanting to come work for us.

Most of these people had the same thoughts as we current employees;

with out a contractor the AMAA would run things the way it should

be. They appointed a new GM, a man that everyone respects and knows

will do what is best for the company; not for the budget. We began

to recieve our first new trucks in almost 7 years. We became nearly

90% staffed. People were calling off, but there were far more asking

to fill, or even put up extra trucks on days off to compensate.

The first 3 months the AMAA was under total power MedStar filled

compliance with nearly 92% each month. This was a far cry from the

5 straight months of failed attempts by R/M. Moral became at an all

time high and people knew things would be changing now that MedStar

was begining to run smoothly. Now Jack Edes see's this trend and

contracts a consultant to come in and to see how to run MedStar as

effectivly, but at a cheaper cost. This consultant (we call him bow-

tie)comes in and tells Jack that he not only can reduce respons

times further by adopting a new posting plan (with his software) but

he can also cut his number of active units by about 1/3. In a

matter of hours Jack cuts out all overtime and tells everyone that

you may no longer put up extra trucks. You can now see that when an

individual calls off, and you can't get someone to fill it, then

there is a unit off the streets. You add these units to the units

cut; you have understaffing. How can you be " almost fully staffed "

when you are at level zero for hours at a time?

Taking away overtime, poor wages, and constantly moving across town;

or responding from across town makes your moral go down. People

don't want to work in a system who does not believe that it's field

crews are it's top asset. The medics on those 250k+ mile trucks,

who have to write paper charts, work non-stop throughout the day,

get a late call, pull into post 4 (main station) an hour late, and

have to stay to re-write their charts into the computer are going to

get tired. They are going to become ill. It may not be physical, it

may be mental. I for one do not want to go into work (feeling ill)

knowing I have 12 straight hours of nothing but sitting in my truck

driving and delivering pt care. Even the slightest illness becomes

much worse the longer you are stuck in those nasty old trucks.

Now I will admit that there is much blame on those crews who call

off. But where does a Exec Dir have the right to degrade his

employees publicly prior to even attempting to solve the problem

internally first? He doesn't! With AMR, and R/M; it was never

publically expressed that the field crews were to blame for failed

compliance. They admited to understaffing and other plroblems.

They understood that even if it may be a problem with a specific

group; this was still a team. We are out her for one reason; we all

love the job. We're here for the people. We're not here for the

money, or the rewards. Jack needs to understand that in order to get

compliance back up, he needs to allow his GM to do things right.

Moral wll go back up, people will want to come into work, and that

in turn will bring in more money to keep his greedy wallet happy.

Posted on Wed, Sep. 28, 2005

MedStar answer times suffer due to sick time

By BILL TEETER

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH -- MedStar isn't meeting response-time

goals because too many employees are taking

unnecessary sick time, MedStar Executive Director Jack

Eades said Wednesday.

From Sept. 1 through Sept. 22, ambulances made it on

time to scenes on " priority 1 " calls 86 percent of the

time, Eades told the agency's board of directors at

their regular monthly meeting.

MedStar, also known as the Area Metropolitan Ambulance

> Authority, requires its ambulances to make priority 1

> calls in nine minutes or less on at least 90 percent

> of their calls.

>

> In April, Rural/Metro, a private ambulance firm,

> withdrew from its contract with MedStar because of

> poor response times. Since then, MedStar has been

> operating as the ambulance provider for the region.

>

> Although MedStar is at nearly full staff after an

> aggressive hiring campaign in the wake of

> Rural/Metro's departure, some ambulance workers are

> taking sick time when they may not really need it,

> which creates staff shortages, Eades said.

>

> Employees are allowed four sick days a year but can

> accrue up to 13 weeks of unused sick time, Eades said.

> There is a misconception among some employees that

> they are entitled to take sick days when they are not

> really ill, he said.

>

> " We are going to have to adopt a new attendance

> policy, " Eades said. " It's going to have to be a lot

> tougher than the one used by the contractor. "

>

> To fix the situation, Eades said MedStar is adopting a

> policy in which ambulance crew members must be at work

> at least 97 percent of their scheduled time. The

> time-off percentage will be measured from the most

> recent three months of their employment when an

> employee calls in sick or takes off other than for

> approved vacation or certain other leaves, such as

> those covered by the federal Family Medical Leave Act,

> Eades said.

>

> The policy is tough but needed, said board President

> McMahan.

>

> " They're not unreasonable, " he said.

>

> City Councilwoman Becky Haskin, who sits on the board,

> asked Eades how widespread the problem is.

>

> " The worst of it is a few, " Eades said.

>

> MedStar serves Fort Worth and 13 other cities. From

> May through July, response times for the system had

> met their mark, although some locations continued to

> have problems.

>

> The agency's August performance report showed MedStar

> made more than 90 percent of its calls on time except

> for its less-serious priority 3 calls, which were at

> an on-time rate of 89.9 percent.

>

> The board also approved a budget for the next fiscal

> year beginning Oct. 1 allowing $18,274,626 in

> expenditures, an increase of about $896,000 from the

> previous year.

>

> The budget includes $1.5 million in capital outlays

> for vehicles and new computer systems that should help

> response times in the future, he said.

>

> ONLINE: www.medstar911.com.

>

> Bill Teeter.

September 30, 2005

Eades was City Manager for the City of Burleson before he took the MedStar

job. No EMS experience--but now running a large system.

_____

From: [mailto: ] On

Behalf Of Nick

Sent: Friday, September 30, 2005 8:31 AM