From www.njo.com (New Jersey Online)

Capital giving TEMS the boot 04/20/00 By KEVIN SHEA Staff Writer TRENTON -- Trenton Emergency Medical Services has been told to get out of its headquarters on Prospect Street. Capital Health System, which owns the building and is part-owner of TEMS, gave the ambulance service one month to vacate. The city has been negotiating with Capital to buy the hospital corporation's share of TEMS. The notification, delivered by letter on Friday, requires TEMS to vacate the premises by May 15. Capital officials said TEMS has been ordered out of the building because of the city's decision to buy out Capital's part of the business. "The city made a decision in which way they wanted to go and we want to rededicate that space to Capital Health resources," said Capital Health spokeswoman Luann McCarty. Deputy Fire Chief Richard Snyder, who has been running TEMS day-to-day during the dispute between the city and Capital over basic life support ambulance service in the city, said he and city officials are looking "quite diligently" for a new home for TEMS. The city has found some locations and is negotiating with one property owner, but Snyder declined to go into details. "If worse comes to worse, we'll piggyback on a firehouse. We have several options," said Snyder. However, Snyder said, "If we need to piggyback on a fire station, we would not be replacing any fire stations. There is absolutely no discussion on shutting down any firehouses." TEMS HAS been headquartered in Capital Health's Center for Emergency Services building on Prospect Street since June. Before that time, it was located in an old church across from Capital Health's Fuld hospital. Capital Health's Mobile Intensive Care Unit paramedic service is also housed in the Prospect Street building. A dispute between Capital Health and the city erupted in February over the control of basic life support ambulance service in the city after Capital launched a new ambulance service which the city saw as a threat to TEMS. Capital Health has maintained its new service was an internal financial decision. TEMS has existed as a nonprofit cooperative effort among Capital Health's Fuld and Mercer hospitals, St. Francis Medical Center and the city since 1981. Recently, the city council voted to move forward in buying out Capital's interest in the ambulance corps and run it themselves, effectively ending the dispute. Negotiations between the city and Capital are continuing, but Capital has conceded ambulance service to the city, officials on both sides say. St. Francis Medical Center, aligned with the city during the dispute, has said it would sell its interest to the city at a nominal rate. CAPITAL HAS announced its plans to move its Life Comm dispatching service, now at the Dempster Fire Training Center in Lawrence to what is now the TEMS office on Prospect Street, said McCarty. Recently, Mercer County officials said they plan to take back control of dispatching fire personnel from Life Comm when Capital's five-year contract expires next month. County officials also are discussing centralized dispatch for emergency medical services (ambulances), which is now done by Life Comm. "Moving TEMS did not have anything to do with the county situation, but now that the space is available (that's what we plan to use it for)," said McCarty. Snyder didn't take the move by Capital as vindictive, but said he would have liked more time to find a location. Snyder said he could quickly find physical space for an ambulance, like a firehouse bay or another city property, but wants to find a permanent location with office space meeting TEMS's needs. The Times A.M. edition |