State by State: March 2020

NEW JERSEY: MONOC Ceases Operations After 40 Years

On January 23 Jeff Behm, president and CEO of Monmouth Ocean Hospital Service Corp. (MONOC), announced in a letter to employees that the service would close on April 1 due to “a challenging financial environment caused by declining reimbursements and increasing payor restrictions.” MONOC offers BLS, ALS, air medical, and critical care transport to an area of approximately 1,800 square miles with a population of about two million people. The service runs about 150,000 calls per year. Since 2014 MONOC reduced its size based on the fact that its member hospitals had less need for MONOC to provide EMS and medical transport. “I’m so proud of the excellent clinical work MONOC has provided in taking care of the community,” Behm told EMS World.

PENNSYLVANIA: Page, Wolfberg, & Wirth Celebrates 20 Years

On January 20 the prominent EMS law firm Page, Wolfberg, & Wirth (PWW) celebrated two decades of service to the EMS industry. The firm has been a legal and educational resource for EMS agencies, billing companies, public safety agencies, and others related to the provision of EMS and prehospital care in the United States. “We are grateful to be serving and contributing to an industry we have both been in since we were kids as EMS volunteers and to have been accepted by that industry,” said founding partner Doug Wolfberg.

NEVADA: Ready Responders, REMSA Announce MIH-CP Partnership

Ready Responders, an on-demand group of EMS and other healthcare professionals who perform mobile health visits, and the Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority (REMSA), a Nevada-based ground and air ambulance provider, have announced a program intended to improve population health and patient care, as well as reduce the unnecessary use of emergency medical services. As part of the new partnership, Ready Responders will support REMSA’s Community Paramedicine Program by providing community care services to at-risk patients.

TEXAS: EMS Provider Imprisoned for Medicare, Medicaid Fraud

The U.S. Justice Department announced that Joseph Valdie Kimble, 57, of Longview, Tex., has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for Medicare and Medicaid fraud. Kimble was also ordered to pay restitution of $751,986.30 to Medicare and Medicaid and was ordered not to seek or retain employment in the healthcare industry while serving three years of supervised release. Information presented in court showed that Kimble operated Tiger EMS, providing nonemergency ambulance transport, primarily between skilled nursing centers, hospitals, and dialysis centers.