This is something I think would be good information for the people of Harlingen to have so they could have a better understanding.
HARLINGEN — The city’s ambulance company fell short on one of its performance benchmarks set to address concerns of slow response times in its non-emergency transport service, Commissioner Rene Perez said.
Now, Perez is requesting South Texas Emergency Care Foundation officials present commissioners with more information surrounding response times.
“We still have questions regarding STEC,” Perez said Wednesday during an interview. “We want to make sure they’re held accountable to meet the metrics. I look forward to more information.”
Falling short of benchmark
Last week, STEC officials presented commissioners with their first performance report stemming from the nonprofit’s nine-month contract signed last October.
While commissioners requested STEC set its performance at a 90-percent level on a specific measure, the company’s score fell a few points below the mark, Perez told agency officials during a Feb. 15 meeting.
“In all the reports I’m looking at, it’s below the 90 percent,” he told Rene Perez, STEC’s director of transport services, during the meeting. “It’s like 82, 84. So it’s actually below what we agreed on.”
One benchmark included “emergency response time statistics,” he said.
On Wednesday, Commissioner Perez said he couldn’t disclose the performance factor STEC failed to meet because its disclosure could violate ambulance patients’ confidentiality rights.
“This is something I think would be good information for the people of Harlingen to have so they could have a better understanding,” he said, noting he didn’t want to violate confidentiality laws.
In another case, an ambulance’s response time exceeded 45 minutes during a January non-emergency run as a result of a “hospital holding ambulances” outside its emergency room, he told company officials.
Meanwhile, he told company officials some residents have complained about slow response times to non-emergency response.
“I’ve got some messages on Facebook from individuals that I know that have some complaints,” he said. “When people call to complain, they have a loved one (and) it took a while to get the ambulance.”
STEC addresses concerns
STEC officials said the performance report marked the first time the company has released such information to commissioners.
As part of the new contract, commissioners requested the information regarding STEC’s ambulance response times following months of concerns stemming from some residents’ complaints.
I don’t think there’s another 911 service anywhere in South Texas, maybe not in the state, that can match the average response times that STEC has.
During his presentation of the company’s performance report, Rene Perez, STEC’s transport director, said the nonprofit has addressed commissioners’ concerns regarding non-emergency service response times.
“Both the 911 system and the non-emergency transport service are working well and concerns about timelines for non-emergency transports have been addressed and resolved,” he told commissioners.
Since October, STEC’s emergency ambulance runs have averaged “consistently below” 7 minutes and 40 seconds, he said.
Meanwhile, the company’s non-emergency response times have averaged under 45 minutes with the exception of transports running at higher arrival times as a result of factors outside the company’s control, he said.
“Wait times at the hospitals which are exceeding an hour-and-a-half are an everyday occurrences,” he said. “That’s just the way it is. The time of the day will fluctuate depending on how the staffing is in the ER, of course, (and) 911 calls.”
“A lot of our challenges still continue,” he told commissioners. “The wait time … still continues. We’re working closely with our hospitals. A majority to that problem is going to be staffing — nursing staff. As you know, we have a shortage of nurses. Those are things that do affect how we get help out to the community and that slows us down a little bit.”
STEC’s response times are among the best in the state, Randy Whittington, STEC’s longtime attorney, told commissioners.
“I don’t think there’s another 911 service anywhere in South Texas, maybe not in the state, that can match the average response times that STEC has,” Whittington, a former city mayor, said.
Heated exchange
During a heated exchange, Commissioner Michael Mezmar argued Commissioner Perez didn’t have the medical background to criticize STEC’s ambulance response times.
“I’ve never got a complaint in all the years I’ve been here about STEC and you keep saying you get complaints all the time,” Mezmar told him. “You have no clue about medical delivery. You have no clue about working in the hospital. You have no clue about ambulance response, and you criticize them all the time. And you’re the one who demanded these reports. They do a very good job.”
In response, he told Mezmar some residents use social media platforms such as Facebook to present their complaints to him.
“You’re right,” he told Mezmar. “I did demand accountability.”
Requesting more information
Amid discussion, Mayor Norma Sepulveda told STEC officials she supported Commissioner Perez’s request for more information regarding the company’s performance.
“There is value in providing information to our community,” she said. “I think it would be an excellent idea to provide some information in the report to answer those questions from the community asking what’s going on, how long does it take, and providing some information so they do know that you’re doing a great job.”
Sepulveda noted commissioners were reviewing reports the company had released for the first time.
“This is a learning process for everyone,” she told STEC officials. “These reports — these are new. I think it helps us identify where we need to work on. I’m glad that the commission wants, as a whole, to review these reports so we’re better informed so when we do speak with the community and they have those questions, we have those answers to provide them.”
Overall job performance
Meanwhile, Sepulveda hailed STEC’s job performance.
“It is amazing work that you’re doing, and I believe everybody here on the commission does appreciate the hard work of all our first responders,” she said. “I know it’s hard work. It’s not something I could do, so definitely kudos to you for doing that, just to let you know that we are appreciative of everything you do for the community. I think everybody here on this commission commends what the men and woman at STEC do, and we do think you all are doing a phenomenal job.”
As the commission’s representative on STEC’s board of directors, Commissioner Ford Kinsley said he’s experienced the company’s work.
“South Texas Emergency Care Foundation is committed to providing quality emergency care to the citizens of the Rio Grande Valley, and they are achieving that goal,” he said.
New contract
In October, commissioners signed STEC to the nine-month contract, replacing its former five-year contracts.
Meanwhile, the new contract allows the company to hold on to its exclusive rights agreement to provide ambulance service within the city limits.
For weeks last year, Commissioner Perez debated allowing outside ambulance companies help STEC provide non-emergency transport service.
As part of the new contract, STEC has agreed boost the number of ambulances it stations within the city limits from three to as many as six, Sepulveda said at the time.
STEC’s response
In response to the push to allow outside companies to help provide non-emergency transports, STEC officials have argued the lucrative service helps them fund emergency ambulance runs.
If competition eats into the company’s revenue, officials warned they could return to charging the city as much as $395,000 a year to help fund EMS services.
For about 10 years, the city has granted STEC exclusive rights to provide emergency and non-emergency transport services after the company stopped charging about $395,000 a year to help fund its EMS operations.
Instead, the company began charging its patients.
As part of STEC’s contract, the city backs the company’s exclusivity clause with a city ordinance granting police the power to warn or cite outside ambulance companies entering the city limits.
Across the state, the cities of Arlington, Waco and Wichita Falls, along with the counties of Wichita Falls and Rockwell, offer their EMS services exclusive contracts, STEC officials have said.
In 2021, during months of heated debate, members of the city’s past commission were considering scraping STEC’s exclusive rights clause to allow other companies to offer non-emergency transport service.
Background
To offer the city back-up ambulance service, STEC has entered into agreements with other regional emergency medical services companies, company officials said.
In 1979, city leaders founded STEC to provide ambulance service in town.
Today, the nonprofit provides ambulance service to several cities across most of Cameron County, including San Benito.
About five years ago, STEC boosted its rates to range from $795 for basic life support to $1,220 in the area where about half its patients are on Medicare and Medicaid, which reimburses about a third of billings, company officials said.
