Why Emergency Medical Services?

So, why Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in Peoria? What does this have to do with anything?

I thought in 2001 that EMS in Peoria was not headed in the proper direction. I had heard that George Hevesy, MD who was the Project Medical Director at the time, was being paid by Advanced Medical Transport as well as by OSF which is the major investor in Advanced Medical Transport. 

George was responsible for all of the out-of-hospital providers and ambulance agencies in the area and Region II in Illinois.  And when the Peoria media and Peoria City Council wanted to know if certain agencies, like the Peoria Fire Department, should provide a basic service or an advanced life support service, they listened to George. 

The following paragraphs are from the beginning of my blog "Peoria's Medical Mafia" and was written by me in March 2006. 

Synopsis of Emergency Medical Services in Peoria

Peoria’s Medical Mafia documents my thoughts regarding Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in Peoria, Illinois. There are approximately 65 posts on this weblog, many of them regarding EMS.

Peoria has a population of 113,000. The Peoria Fire Department (PFD) is nontransport and provides service at Basic-D level with basic medication. Several years ago the PFD purchased a very nice ambulance using the Foreign Fire Fund. The PFD applied to the Peoria Project Medical Director for permission to outfit this vehicle, their only ambulance, with various basic and advanced life support materials and equipment. This request was denied by the Project Medical Director. The PFD then sold this ambulance because it was not being used.

Peoria has an advanced life support company, Advanced Medical Transport (AMT), which transports patients and gives the only paramedic care in Peoria. It is considered a not-for-profit entity but grosses over 7 million dollars per year. AMT is supported by all three of Peoria’s hospitals. OSF-SFMC, the largest medical center in downstate Illinois, is considered the “resource hospital” for the Peoria Area EMS. All three medical centers have administrators that sit on the AMT Board of Directors. AMT suffered significant legal troubles several years ago when the federal government investigated it for Medicare fraud based on coding and charging. AMT was fined over 2 million dollars by the federal government. Peoria's three hospitals ponied up to pay the fine. 

The OSF-SFMC Emergency Department Director is also the Corporate Medical Director for AMT. He was the Project Medical Director for many years in the Peoria area and was salaried by both AMT and OSF-SFMC for his services. Numerous people in the area believe this arrangement constitutes a conflict of interest. The PFD also believes that many obstacles have been created over the years to keep them at a basic nontransport level so AMT can continue as the only paramedic and transport agency in Peoria.

I believe that Peorians have suffered and died in the pre-hospital setting and continue to do so because of the paramedic/transport monopoly. Incredibly, the PFD has paramedics that cannot use their life-saving abilities at the scene when they work as firefighters; however, when they “moonlight” for AMT, they can use their advanced life support skills.

Similar business arrangements as described above probably occur in other locations around the nation. But just because banks are robbed in many cities, does not mean it is ok to rob banks in Peoria.

I hope this website is informative. Some day Peoria will change for the better regarding EMS and pre-hospital care. The system took a while to become this ill and it will take a while to recover.

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On July 12, 2006, I posted the following on Peoria's Medical Mafia--

Emergency medical technicians and paramedics in any system find themselves in very tough situations in the field at the scene of an accident, shooting, mass casualty, heart attack, pediatric emergencies, overdoses, etc. Everything can be more difficult in a setting that is not controlled. I believe that the AMT medics and the PFD medics work well together in the street. The PFD and AMT’s notes on the chart are frequently the most important pieces of information for the ER doctor and admitting physician to try and figure out what is wrong with the patient.

The EMT’s and Paramedics “in the trenches” should not be blamed for bad patient outcomes if the system is at fault. The emergency medical system is set up locally by the doctor who controls the ambulances (Project Medical Director) and the City Council making policy for what the municipal fire department can and cannot do. The City Council is very dependent on getting sound advice from the doctor. And further downstream is the patient who can only hope the people protecting him and his family are well informed and beneficent in their approach to emergencies in their community.

George Hevesy and Rick Miller have been the ambulance doctors for Peoria for the majority of the past 2 decades.