House Bill hb0849e1

                                       HB 849, First Engrossed/ntc



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to Pinellas County; amending

  3         chapter 80-585, Laws of Florida, as amended;

  4         increasing the number of members of the

  5         Emergency Medical Services Authority required

  6         for a quorum from three to four; correcting

  7         terminology; providing an effective date.

  8

  9  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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11         Section 1.  Section 1 of chapter 80-585, Laws of

12  Florida, is amended to read:

13         Section 1.  There is hereby created a countywide

14  Emergency Medical Services Authority, hereinafter called the

15  "authority."  The governing body of the authority and its

16  membership shall be the Board of County Commissioners of

17  Pinellas County.  Four Three members of the authority shall

18  constitute a quorum. The Chairperson of the Emergency Medical

19  Services Advisory Council shall be an ex officio ex-officio

20  member of the authority without voting privileges.  The

21  authority shall keep a record of its transactions,

22  resolutions, findings, determinations, recommendations and

23  orders, which record shall be a public record.

24         Section 2.  Subsection (9) of section 2 of chapter

25  80-585, Laws of Florida, as amended by 89-424, Laws of

26  Florida, is amended to read:

27         (9)  To establish uniform standards which shall be

28  equal to or stricter than those provided in Chapter 401,

29  Florida Statutes, insofar as it relates to Emergency Medical

30  Services and the Department of Health and Rehabilitative

31  Services EMS Rules, Chapter 10D-66, as they exist and may


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                                       HB 849, First Engrossed/ntc



  1  hereafter be amended and to provide for the enforcement of

  2  same.  The authority has the power to establish levels of

  3  service for all emergency medical services that must be met by

  4  EMS providers; provided that levels of service on or after the

  5  effective date of this act may not be lower than levels of

  6  service as of January 1, 1989, without the consent of the

  7  affected EMS providers; and provided further that an EMS

  8  provider may not be required to increase its level of service

  9  to a level of service established by the authority that

10  results in the authority reducing the payment of reimbursable

11  costs to EMS providers because the total reimbursable costs

12  would exceed the 1.5 millage authorized by this act.

13         Section 3.  Section 3 of chapter 80-585, Laws of

14  Florida, as amended by chapter 89-424, Laws of Florida, is

15  amended to read:

16         Section 3.  The authority shall make provision for EMS

17  in any designated districts.  This may be done on a contract

18  management basis where new services are to be provided.

19  However, where EMS are already being provided, full

20  reimbursement shall be made by the authority to the EMS

21  provider for the reasonable and customary cost of said

22  services, such cost to be defined by the authority.  The firm

23  receiving said management contract will operate under the

24  direction of the EMS medical director, carrying out such

25  policies and programs as the authority deems necessary.  In

26  determining reimbursable costs pursuant to this section, where

27  EMS are already being provided, the authority may take into

28  consideration the standards and levels of service established

29  pursuant to section 2 and may reimburse the EMS providers for

30  reasonable actual costs incurred in providing EMS in

31  accordance with the standards and levels of service


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                                       HB 849, First Engrossed/ntc



  1  established by the authority.  However, neither the authority

  2  nor the Board of County Commissioners may be required to pay

  3  or budget for the payment of reimbursable costs to the EMS

  4  providers if that payment would cause the annual budget of the

  5  authority to exceed the 1.5 millage authorized by this article

  6  act.  If budget requests approved by the authority for the new

  7  fiscal year exceed the total estimated revenue available,

  8  including ad valorem tax revenue generated by 1.5 mills, the

  9  authority shall:

10         (1)  Calculate the percentage of each provider's share

11  of the total requested and approved increases in the

12  authority's budget for the new fiscal year.

13         (2)  Calculate the revenue available for funding

14  increases by subtracting the approved authority budget for the

15  current fiscal year from the total estimated revenue available

16  for the new fiscal year.

17         (3)  Multiply the percentage calculated in subsection

18  (1) for each provider requesting an increase, by the amount

19  calculated in subsection (2), and add the resulting amount to

20  that provider's approved budget for the current fiscal year.

21  This amount will be the total budgeted for that provider for

22  the new fiscal year.

23         Section 4.  Section 5 of chapter 80-585, Laws of

24  Florida, is amended to read:

25         Section 5.  There is hereby also created an Emergency

26  Medical Services Advisory Council, hereinafter called "the

27  Council," to consist of no fewer than 15 fifteen (15) nor more

28  than 24 twenty-four (24) members.  Members shall be proposed

29  by the present EMS Advisory Council and ratified by the

30  authority.  Members shall constitute a broad spectrum of

31  County representation and shall include members of the


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                                       HB 849, First Engrossed/ntc



  1  emergency medical services system and four (4) mayors (or each

  2  mayor's designee, who shall be an elected official from the

  3  respective city) to be appointed by the Pinellas County

  4  Council of Mayors.  The term of appointment shall be for 2 two

  5  years; however, there is no limit on the number of terms an

  6  individual may serve.  The Director of Civil Emergency Medical

  7  Services for Pinellas County shall be a nonvoting non-voting

  8  member of the Council.  It shall be the responsibility of this

  9  Council to evaluate the County's emergency medical services

10  system from a qualitative point of view, to review the

11  operation of EMS on a countywide basis, to recommend

12  requirements and programs for the contract management firm and

13  monitor performance of same, to review and evaluate studies

14  commissioned by the authority upon the authority's request,

15  and to make such recommendations as may be necessary to the

16  authority on needs, problems and opportunities opportunties

17  relating to emergency medical services, including the

18  financing and establishment of a trauma center or centers, and

19  to carry out such other duties as may be required to ensure

20  insure the delivery of good, countywide EMS at reasonable

21  cost.

22         Section 5.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

23  law.

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