Ambulance, paramedic service in Camden could be overhauled

TRENTON (AP) — The provider of ambulance and paramedic services in Camden could change abruptly if a bill that's moving quickly through the state Legislature is adopted.

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Lawmakers are expected to vote on the measure Thursday.

The move would benefit Cooper University Hospital, where the chairman of the board is Democratic powerbroker George Norcross. Supporters of the change said it could also improve public health, but the hospital that now provides paramedics in the city said it's not the way a change should be made.

Here's a look at the issue:

WHAT WOULD CHANGE

In New Jersey, there are separate contracts for ambulance and paramedic squads.

Currently, Newark-based University Hospital provides ambulances and Marlton-based Virtua provides paramedics, who provide care for patients but not transportation.

The bill would designate the state's three Level 1 trauma centers as the providers of both services in their home cities. But it would mean a change only in Camden.

THE ARGUMENT FOR THE CHANGE

In testimony before lawmakers this week, Cooper lobbyist Christine Stearns pointed out that hospitals now have financial incentives to reduce lengths of stay and readmission rates. She said the emergency medical workers could make follow-up visits to discharged patients to help present problems that would require them to return to the hospital.

Camden, one of the nation's most impoverished cities, has been a leader in identifying high-risk patients and connecting them to clinical services. One Cooper doctor, Jeffrey Brenner, won a MacArthur fellowship -- also known as a "genius grant" -- for his work in the area two years ago.

THE ARGUMENT AGAINST

Virtua officials are upset about the bill, which they say steps around the state's normal procedure for designating paramedics for an area.

Scott Kasper, Virtua's assistant vice president for emergency services, said the hospital is paid only by insurers and does not get a subsidy from the communities it serves. And he said that in the case of Camden, the cost of providing the service is more than it brings in.

But he said the hospital provides quality service there and wants to continue. Without the city, he said, some of its 12 paramedic crews that serve Burlington and Camden counties might need to be laid off.

He also said that Cooper could use other health care employees now to provide the services It wants to offer with paramedics. In fact, he said, those tasks are usually done by home health nurses or social workers -- not paramedics.

THE POLITICAL CONNECTION

It's not common for a piece of legislation to be introduced and fly through committees in both chambers as quickly as this one has this month.

The chairman of the board at Cooper is George Norcross, a Democratic Party powerbroker with deep influence in the Statehouse. A spokesman for Norcross wouldn't comment, but Assemblyman Whip Wilson, a Camden Democrat who introduced the legislation this month, told The Philadelphia Inquirer: "Read my lips: I have not talked to George Norcross about this bill."

WHAT'S NEXT

If the bill is adopted by both chambers of the Legislature, it would be up to Gov. Chris Christie to decide whether to sign or veto it.

If it's signed as is, the changes would be effective as of Jan. 1.