Tompkins County will negotiate with municipalities over cost of new rapid medical response program

The Tompkins County Legislature unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding at the Dec. 19 meeting that would start negotiations with municipalities, including the town of Lansing, to share the costs of a new pilot rapid medical response system. 

Startup costs and funding for the program’s first year were included as part of the county’s 2024 budget. The new program will cut medical response time for emergency situations, such as heart attacks and strokes, in the town of Lansing from 14 minutes and 30 seconds to about 7 minutes, town board members and county officials say. 

The pilot program is set to stretch out over two years, dispatching trained emergency medical technicians all over the county, but would primarily consist of three units. One will mostly serve the Lansing area, another will serve the town of Caroline and a third will be stationed in either Enfield or Newfield.

The rapid response team would not use traditional ambulances or transport individuals for medical attention, but would offer speedy, on-site, elementary life support services to address an immediate issue or to support someone while they await additional resources. 

The 2024 budget included $54,000 in one-time funds for equipment and other startup expenses and $232,000 for half of the first-year operating expenses. An additional $232,000 will be placed in the budget’s contingency fund, awaiting a decision on sharing the program’s costs with municipalities.

At the meeting, Legislator Rich John, D-Ithaca, praised the program.

“We are on the edge of doing something about this, and I think this is really exciting and important,” he said. “This is one of the most transformational things we are doing in 2024. “Historically, counties are not involved in the emergency medical services, but we believe it is time to do something.”

The program, John added, provides the county with an opportunity to work with participating municipalities on cost sharing. Those discussions are meant to happen this year. County Administrator Lisa Holmes will represent the county in negotiations with individual municipalities.

Another source of funding for the program will come from potential state grant opportunities. According to the resolution passed by the legislature, the county is in the process of applying for a shared-services grant through the state.

“Unfortunately, because of the grant cycle, the county will not know if the grant has been approved until sometime within the 2024 year,” the resolution states. “Because of the importance of these emergency services, the Tompkins County Legislature wishes to launch the program without waiting to receive a grant 29 decision, and has placed half of the first year estimated cost of the program into the county 2024 Budget as a countywide expense.”

Lansing at Large appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com. Contact Eddie Velazquez at edvel37@gmail.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @ezvelazquez.

In brief:

The Lansing Housing Authority (LHA) is seeking new volunteer members. The housing authority, which owns and operates Woodsedge Senior Apartments, located at 100 Woodsedge Dr., is seeking to fill two vacancies on its board of directors. The board meets on the last monday of every month at 7 p.m. Interested parties with some property management experience or experience with issues that affect the aging population may contact LHA Board Chair David Stoyell by phone at 607-279-2656 or via email at davestoyell@gmail.com. 

Beyond the LHA board, the town of Lansing has other volunteer boards in need of new members. Applications and guidelines for these boards can be found at: https://www.lansingtown.com/bc/page/board-vacancies-terms-start-112024

Below are the boards seeking new members:

• Planning Board — Three vacancies: One vacancy carries a seven-year term, while the other two require shorter, one-year terms.
  
• Zoning Board of Appeals — Two vacancies: One position carries a five-year term, while the other is active for one year.
   
• Board of Ethics — One vacancy for a five-year term.
  
• Conservation Advisory Council — Five vacancies, all serve two-year terms.

Interested parties may contact the town clerk’s office at 607-533-4142 or via email at jhall@lansingtown.com and townclerk@lansingtown.com with any questions.

Paper applications are available at the town clerk’s office and can be emailed if requested. Incumbents wishing to be reappointed must submit an application for reappointment.