DATE: February 20, 2018
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: David Pomaville, Director, Department of Public Health
Dawan Utecht, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT: Letter of Support: Assembly Bill 1795 (Gipson) - Emergency Medical Services - Community Care Facilities
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Authorize the Board of Supervisors to execute letter in support of Assembly Bill 1795 (Gipson), as introduced January 9, 2018; and
2. Authorize the Board of Supervisors to execute future letters through the legislative process with similar content in support of Assembly Bill 1795 (Gipson).
REPORT
Approval of the recommended actions would authorize the execution of letters in support of Assembly Bill 1795 (AB 1795). AB 1795 would authorize a local emergency medical services agency to submit, as part of its emergency medical services (EMS) plan, a plan to transport specified patients to a community care facility in lieu of transportation to a general acute care hospital.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board could choose not to execute the letter in support and/or require future letters of support to return to your Board for execution; however, that would delay submittal.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with the recommended actions.
DISCUSSION:
AB 1795 would authorize the County’s EMS agency to submit, as part of its EMS plan, a plan to transport specifically identified patients to a community care facility in lieu of transportation to a busy hospital emergency department. The bill would direct the California EMS Authority to authorize the local EMS agency to add to its scope of practice, for specified emergency personnel, those activities necessary for the assessment, treatment, and transport of an individual to a community care facility.
Many times each day, ambulances respond to an individual that is not suffering from an acute physical health problem that requires transportation to a hospital emergency department, but instead to an individual that may need transportation to a crisis stabilization center or sobering center. This bill would greatly benefit the County by making a permanent change to California and EMS policy allowing paramedic ambulances to transport individuals in mental health crisis to the more appropriate care facility, such as the Fresno County Behavioral Health Crisis Stabilization Center.
AB 1795 would allow the EMS agency to establish a plan to divert identified individuals to the appropriate care. The most important benefit of this bill is to the individual patient, as they would be immediately transported to a facility that can address their identified needs, such as a crisis stabilization center or sobering center, rather than a busy emergency department that has limited services.
Additionally, the letter asks that the Legislature address ambulance provider compensation issues associated with transport to community care facilities. Lacking a payment source, the full cost of transport is passed onto the patient who oftentimes lacks the resources to pay for services.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Assembly Bill 1795
Letter in Support
CAO ANALYST:
Sonia M. De La Rosa