City to bill nursing homes, assisted living centers for non-emergency calls

By Paula Wethington

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    WESTLAND, Michigan (WWJ) — A city in Wayne County, Michigan, will now invoice nursing homes and assisted living centers for calls relating to what first responders consider to be “non-emergency” situations.

The dispute involves calls for lift assistance, which involves helping to get someone in or out of bed or moved around a care facility, and non-emergency transportation of such a person to another location.

“This new policy is about holding these corporate-owned facilities accountable for overusing public resources in ways that are neither appropriate nor sustainable,” Westland City Councilman Mike McDermott said in a social media post about the situation.

The ordinance was introduced at the May 19 city council meeting, according to the city’s website, and passed on June 2. Under the policy that included input from Fire Chief Darrel Stamper and the Westland Professional Firefighters Local 1279, the City of Westland will now invoice $350 for each non-emergency transportation and $500 for each non-emergency lift assistance handled by its first responders.

Collection agencies and litigation will be used to collect the fees if circumstances call for it.

The determining factors include “whether the incident in question could or should have been addressed by the Facility without city intervention or assistance.”

The fees will not apply during cases of a true medical emergency, city officials said.

The fees also will not apply in cases where someone is living independently in a home or apartment and where “casual care is provided at irregular intervals.”

“Part of the issue lies with the facilities themselves. First and foremost, they are understaffed. Sometimes the patient to worker ratio at one of these facilities is greater than 20-1 or 30-1,” McDermott said. “They need to do a better job adequately staffing their facilities and taking care of the people they are entrusted caring for.”

McDermott said getting an appointment for private ambulance assistance during such situations can involve a wait, “but that burden shouldn’t fall on the backs of our firefighters and paramedics, who are already stretched thin.”

“This ordinance was long overdue,” he concluded.

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