From the Daily News:Paterson wants to change the Medicaid formula that funds hospitals. Under his plan, the $60 million that goes to EMS would be spent elsewhere - a 23% cut to the system's total funding.
That, officials said, would result in 22% fewer ambulance shifts, going from 611 to 471.
That doesn't include a $3 million cut in city funding that would eliminate 30 ambulance shifts as part of the across the board cuts pushed by Mayor Bloomberg, officials said.
The average response time is a best-ever 6 minutes and 38 seconds, said EMS Chief John Peruggia. That would grow to 8 minutes and 10 seconds if the governor's cuts go through, the worst response time since 1996.
Wow, I can't wait for the Daily News to write an editorial defending this along with the $400M slush fund for the Willets Point project.
8 comments:
New York State has a fund for Willets Point?
That doesn't include a $3 million cut in city funding that would eliminate 30 ambulance shifts as part of the across the board cuts pushed by Mayor Bloomberg, officials said.
Duh.
So you don't think the city should have done across the board budget cuts? Or you think the cuts should have been less? Or that the city should only have done targeted cuts, which means other services should have been cut more? Or you really didn't think this through and you just threw more nonsense comments up on your blog?
Claire Shulman/Parkside Group have already stolen enough tax money from us for that Willets Point boondoggle!
There's federal money available for that too, old sport, under the brown fields remediation act (I believe)!
So you don't think the city should have done across the board budget cuts? Or you think the cuts should have been less? Or that the city should only have done targeted cuts, which means other services should have been cut more?
I am saying that many of the cuts are unnecessary because the City has money set aside for boondoggle projects that they should put toward vital services instead.
$ 60 million dollar cuts for ambulette services...$64 million dollars & growing for Marty Markowitz's Vanity Project Amphitheater at Seaside Park... No public input....What's wrong with this picture?
Of course cuts are coming, but we need to pull the plug on indefensible projects before we cut life-saving ones.
This is like a man or women dripping with diamonds giving out frugality tips to the homeless.
NYC used to have a respectable EMS system, seperate from the Fire Dept. NYFD took it over with no outside review. Fire dept based ambulance services are the most expensive model and the worst value for the public. NYC has crappy, civil service/affirmative action medics with a piss-poor resusitation record. The 'trauma centers' are just as bad. Every hospital wants to be known as a 'traume center', therefor the city dilutes it's talent and no one hospital gets enough critical patients to become good at it. But it's all about show and bluster isn't it?
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