By Daniel Lapham/Staff writer

The Parkview Hospital and Ambulance Service Panel, created by Mayor Matt White, requested last week the hospital provide information and records in 10 different areas, most of which deal with the operation of the ambulance service.

White created the seven-member panel made up of El Reno residents, the city clerk and himself after expressing dissatisfaction with the administration at the city-owned hospital.
In May, he called for Parkview’s administrator Lex Smith to resign from his position, a job he has held for more than 20 years.

The mayor’s committee submitted the information and records request “pursuant to the Oklahoma Open Records Act.”

The request for information comes a few weeks after Parkview requested the City Council increase the subsidy it pays to help operate the ambulance service. The hospital also requested the agreement be put in place for three years. Council opted to continue with last fiscal year’s agreement for the next three months.

For the past two years, the City has subsidized the ambulance service. The subsidy started at $250,000 and has grown to $300,000 this past year. In a new proposal, Parkview asked for $325,000. In addition, Parkview has requested annual increases to the subsidy based on sales tax growth. A third issue in the proposal calls for an additional 10 percent of the revenue collected on the new sales tax, approved in January by voters, be set aside for “ambulance replacement.”

The ¼ percent sales tax is set aside for Police, Fire and Ambulance services as they pertain to public health and safety.

“There never was a set amount of money that was agreed to, to be paid to Parkview,” White said. “This is just a piece of the pie.”

City Finance Director Ruth Beale estimates the ¼ cent sales tax dedicated to health and public safety will generate $462,000 for the 2008-2009 Fiscal Year.

“We will monitor that throughout the year and during the next budget process we will adjust the projection as needed,” Beale said.

That $462,000 is designated to be split as determined by the City Council between the ambulance service, and other public health and safety capital needs

“From this ¼ percent sales tax, we are going to fund the ambulance service and fund public health and safety facilities and equipment,” said City Manager Tony Rivera. “That is the way the questions were written and what the people voted on.”

Rivera said he has never agreed to any percentage or dollar amount to be used in any of the public health and safety areas.
“The only thing I have said is that whatever percentage of the ¼ cent is promised to the ambulance service that percentage should be held constant as needed, whether the tax revenue goes up or down the agreed percentage should stay the same,” he said.

The council voted in June to extend last fiscal year’s subsidy agreement by three months, meaning the ambulance service would receive quarterly payments of $75,000.
White said the citizen panel he appointed hopes to have information gathered within that three month period.

“I want the hospital to have ample time to give us accurate information,” White said. “I am not going to agree to anything until we know what our true costs are. Then we can make a decision.”

Former Vice-Mayor Julie Rozsypal questioned the hospital’s proposed agreement in a letter presented to the Parkview board of trustees in May. Rozsypal said she was opposed to wording that calls for the amount of the subsidy to “be increased over the subsidy for the immediately preceding year in the same percentage as the increase in the local sales tax for the City over the immediately preceding year…” On top of that, the paragraph states “in no event shall the subsidy for any year of this agreement be less than the subsidy for the immediately preceding year.”

Rozsypal said in her letter she is opposed to locking into a “formula-based system” when the whole purpose behind the subsidy is to provide funds as needed to “best serve the citizens (of El Reno).”

White said until questions are answered it will be difficult for the process to move forward.

“I think it goes back to our panel and we have submitted our questions to Mr. Smith. We want to know what is the ambulance service costing us. I am going to make sure we have all of the information before we agree to a contract.”