Claflin resigns as Putnam County EMS director

Monday, January 6, 2020
E.J. Claflin

Less than a week into its existence, Putnam County Emergency Management Service is searching for a new director.

Having taken a job in North Carolina, Director E.J. Claflin submitted his resignation to Putnam County Commissioner Rick Woodall on Friday, Jan. 3.

Woodall made the announcement during the commissioners’ first meeting of the year on Monday.

Claflin took over as director of Operation Life in late 2014, overseeing a period in which ambulance services nationwide have seen decreasing revenues.

Federal reimbursement rates for Medicare and Medicaid have been on the decline in recent years, while many people with private insurance are reticent to call an ambulance in all but the direst of circumstances due to high out-of-pocket expenses.

These and other factors contributed to Operation Life tightening its belt in recent years as well as county funding for the not-for-profit service increasing from $80,000 annually to $400,000 annually beginning in 2018.

Early in 2019, county and OL officials began moving toward a county takeover of the ambulance service, with a goal of funding county-owned EMS at the same $400,000 annual rate, despite adding a third ambulance crew and staffing locations at Bainbridge, Greencastle and Cloverdale at all times.

The hope remains that increased federal reimbursement for a county-owned entity will keep the price tag on EMS service the same.

For Claflin’s leadership in the transition from Putnam County Operation Life to Putnam County EMS, Woodall was effusive in his praise of the outgoing director.

“I met with him (Claflin) Friday morning and again Friday afternoon,” Woodall said. “I cannot commend him enough for the work he put in on this transition. It was tremendous and I don’t know where we would be without him in this transition.

“He did a fabulous job with this transition,” Woodall later told the Banner Graphic. “Somebody gave me credit the other day, but I just said we wanted to get from Point A to Point B. He did all the work to make it happen.”

Part of that work has been working with entities like Medicare, Medicaid and others to make sure the paperwork was all correct as of Wednesday, Jan. 1.

It also included Claflin and Assistant Director Joe Carnagua hiring and training eight new employees to staff the third ambulance for the provider’s four-shift rotation.

Though he has already relocated, Claflin plans to continue assisting with the transition through the end of January and even offered to help beyond that if necessary.

The search for a new director begins immediately.

“Basically what it means is we will put out an ad for a new EMS director,” Woodall said. “We will start the interview process.”

Woodall and fellow commissioners David Berry and Don Walton hope to have a new director in place by the beginning of February, but Woodall admitted these are lofty goals.

Woodall said a replacement is more likely to be in place between mid-February and early March.

“Chapter 1 started, Chapter 1.2 has now begun,” Woodall said. “We’ll be all right, we’ll get through it.”

As for operational transition as of Jan. 1, things have gone well, Carnagua told the commissioners.

“Operationally, it was business as usual,” Carnagua said. “We just added that third truck.”

Woodall sees the more likely hang-ups coming with billing and other administrative issues, times when Claflin is likely to be missed.

Woodall said he has spoken to a number of constituents about the changeover to county management, though they don’t share the same concerns he has.

“The biggest thing I’ve been hit with on Kroger Aisle 8 -- it always seems to be Aisle 8 -- is when are we going to re-letter the buildings and the ambulances?” Woodall said. “And, as I see it, there’s no immediate need.”

A few other EMS-related issues were addressed Monday, including about the building in Bainbridge.

In a unique arrangement, OL owned the Bainbridge building even though the Bainbridge Fire Department owns the land.

Eric Gibson, a lieutenant and secretary-treasurer for the department, questioned the current status of the building.

Though no one seems to have kept a copy of the contract from when the building was erected in 2008, officials at the time for both OL and Bainbridge Fire Department believed there was language that would have turned the building over to the fire department.

One of these clauses revolved around the building sitting vacant for more than a year, which occurred when Operation Life cut back to two ambulance crews, both operating out of Greencastle.

The other involved Operation Life ceasing to exist, which has happened on an operational level, though the non-profit corporation and board will continue to exist through the end of 2020.

While the department has no immediate designs on permanently occupying the building, Gibson said fire department officials would be interested in being able to use the building for housing during inclement weather.

“We are kind of in a precarious situation because I know there are two entities that want the building,” Gibson said.

“Putnam County EMS is now running an ambulance out of there, which is great for the people in the northern part of the county,” he later added.

Woodall asked what Gibson’s overall purpose was in approaching the county.

“What is the fire department looking for?” Woodall asked. “Are you looking for a hostile takeover or a non-hostile takeover? Is there a way that when inclement weather is coming in, we can take a person or two in?”

Gibson said the department is looking for a joint venture in which part of the building could be used should the need arise.

“There’s space there in that structure that we could both cohabitate in the structure,” Gibson said. “There’s been some friction between entities in the county.”

“We’re going to start working on the friction, all over the county,” Woodall said, citing some icy relations between other emergency agencies and OL in recent years.

Carnagua said the quarters are tight in the building, but cohabitation would be possible when necessary, especially with some rearrangement in the building.

Woodall thanked Gibson for coming to the meeting.

“This is an open dialog that we’ll be figuring out,” Woodall said.

Gibson added that the department, through its parent agency the Walnut Creek Fire Protection District, is looking into a back-up generator for the fire station. He said the hope was to get one big enough to power the EMS building as well.

Gibson also asked the status of a contract between the county and Roachdale-based EMS provider PMH.

County Attorney Jim Ensley explained there would be no contract with PMH.

“As a county entity, when you start contracting with somebody on doing something like that, you are liable,” Ensley said. “There’s no reason to have it, but if they want to operate, they are free to do it. If they get called out, they can do it.”

Carnagua said that even without a contract, PMH remains available for Putnam County Dispatch to call should the county ambulance in the northern district be busy.

Gibson, one of two utility directors for the Town of Bainbridge, is a retired paramedic from the Avon Fire Department. He expressed his interest in starting a non-transport paramedic service in the northern part of the county.

Basically, Gibson’s idea would be to respond to calls in which advanced life support (paramedic) service is needed but when a basic life support (EMT) service like PMH is available.

While the service is not in place and funding would be a big question, Gibson said he is willing to get something started and to respond wherever needed.

“Basically, if I’m needed, I’ll go,” Gibson said.

In the meantime, the biggest question for county officials remains: Who will the new EMS director be?

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  • Eric has been such an asset to Putnam County,hate to lose him.

    -- Posted by small town fan on Mon, Jan 6, 2020, at 11:45 PM
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