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An Update From the Virginia Office
of Emergency Medical Services |
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We’ve got some important updates to share with you as we continue to improve the operations and financial standing of the Office of EMS. Collaborating and communicating with our partners in the EMS community is an essential part of this process. We want to keep you informed as we continue to accomplish our goals within the Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS) and throughout the state.
- The Governor’s Office has allowed the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) to allocate just over $8 million from general funds not spent elsewhere at VDH this past fiscal year to cover specific OEMS obligations. Additionally, the Governor’s FY2024 caboose bill and FY2025 budget proposal, if passed by the Legislature, will allow OEMS to keep the $12.5 million from both years that has traditionally gone to the general funds.
- In January, OEMS contracted with a nationally recognized EMS and Public Safety consulting firm Fitch & Associates to incorporate national best practices and on-site leadership, finance, contracting and operational support. This consulting team will be funded through federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention Workforce Grant funds. During the month of January, the Fitch team has been working in OEMS to better understand the people and internal processes of the Office. Beginning in February and continuing over the coming months, OEMS leaders and Fitch & Associates will visit Regional EMS Councils and several EMS agencies across the Commonwealth including those that are paid and volunteer and in urban and rural areas. The goal of these visits is to get feedback from Virginia’s EMS stakeholders and to learn more about what they expect from OEMS.
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Return-to-Locality Funding – Over the past four weeks, OEMS has released over $5.4 million in Return-to-Locality funding. Many localities have already received their Return-to-Locality funding, and OEMS is following up with the remaining localities that have not met their obligations in order to receive the funding. These funds are to be used by a locality to support their EMS agencies by providing training to providers or to purchase EMS equipment and supplies. For assistance or questions regarding your Return-to-Locality funding, please contact Michael Berg at Michael.Berg@vdh.virginia.gov.
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Funding to the Regional EMS Councils – More than $3.8 million has been released to Virginia’s Regional EMS Councils to pay overdue invoices owed to them for work completed.
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The Virginia EMS Scholarship Program – OEMS will be focusing on disbursing all previously awarded scholarship dollars to Virginia’s EMS providers in the coming months. For questions about the Virginia EMS Scholarship Program, please contact Chad Blosser at chad.blosser@vdh.virginia.gov.
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State Patient Care Reporting System – OEMS has initiated a Request for Proposal (RFP) to secure an ongoing Patient Care Reporting system for Virginia’s EMS providers, which will begin later in 2024. During this ongoing RFP, Virginia EMS agencies that participate in the ESO platform will continue to have access to the ESO Patient Care Reporting System and there will be no interruption of service. For additional information or questions about the ESO Patient Care Reporting System, please contact Bryan Hodges at Jesse.Hodges@vdh.virginia.gov.
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Next Steps Workgroup – VDH leadership has coordinated with the State EMS Advisory Board Chair and Board of Health Chair to establish the “Next Steps Workgroup” with EMS stakeholders from across the Commonwealth. This group has been meeting regularly to advise on the future of OEMS, the role of the Regional EMS Councils, and the needed resources for the future of OEMS.
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Stay Tuned
Stay tuned for our next update, which will include additional financial and operational goals and accomplishments, OEMS program information and more. We want to hear from you! Email your questions or concerns to emstechasst@vdh.virginia.gov so we can highlight them in our next update.
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