Delaware General Assembly


CHAPTER 153

FORMERLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 485

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE TO ESTABLISH THE STATEWIDE PARAMEDIC FUNDING PROGRAM, TO MAKE A SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION, AND AUTHORIZE POSITIONS TO BEGIN IMPLEMENTING THE DELAWARE PARAMEDIC SERVICES ACT.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (THREE-FOURTHS OF ALL THE MEMBERS ELECTED TO EACH HOUSE THEREOF CONCURRING THEREIN):

Section 1. Amend Chapter 98, Part X, Title 16 of the Delaware Code by adding thereto a new section, designated as § 9814, which new section shall read as follows:

"§ 9814. Statewide Paramedic Funding Program

(a) The statewide paramedic funding program is hereby established for the purpose of participating with the counties in the financing of the statewide paramedic program.

(b) The operational costs of each county's component of the statewide paramedic service shall be shared by the state and county with the state providing sixty percent (60%) of the cost and the county providing forty percent (40%).

(c) A county will not be eligible for its sixty percent state share until such time as the rules, regulations, procedures, protocols and approvals required by this Act have been completed or July 1, 1990, whichever is later. The date of approval by the Department of a county program shall be the starting date in terms of eligibility for State share funding. No county programs will be funded retroactively and the Department shall not unreasonably withhold or delay any approval. The Secretary shall not encumber any of the State funds applied for by a county until such county has appropriated its proportional share of funding.

(d) Since the initial organizational and hiring responsibilities that are to be undertaken by the State will require a period of six to nine months to complete, no appropriation for State share operating costs is required for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1990. Commencing with the fiscal year ending June 30, 1991, the General Assembly shall appropriate annually an amount sufficient to reimburse sixty percent of approved costs. This appropriation shall be made in the annual Grants-In-Aid Act and shall be appropriated to the Office of Paramedic Administration, Division of Public Health, Department of Health and Social Services, which shall serve as the State's fiscal agent for distributing the funds in accordance with this Act to counties that operate approved programs. The appropriation in the Grants-In-Aid Act of the state share of the paramedic funding program shall not be subject to the limitation in subsection (f) of § 6533, Chapter 65, Title 29 of the Delaware Code.

(e) Funds distributed to a county for the purpose of supporting a county component of the statewide paramedic system may be used for general operating costs or as debt service and financing for bond issuance for that purpose.

(f) The Office shall promulgate regulations for the distribution of the funds appropriated pursuant to this Act to the counties that provide for reimbursement on a quarterly basis.

(g) Funds appropriated pursuant to this section may not be used to fund basic life support services. To the extent that a county or its subcontractor operates integrated advanced and basic life support services, the Office shall devise a methodology to separate costs and shall provide reimbursement accordingly.

(h) The Office shall report on the applications, expenditures, and uses of the statewide paramedic funding program annually as part of the budgetary process of the Department."

Section 2. Additional sums are hereby appropriated to the Office of the Budget (10-02-00), Office of Information Systems Telecommunications Management (10-02-12) and the Department of Health and Social Services (35-00-00), Division of Public Health (35-05-00), Office of Paramedic Administration (35-05-03) as follows:

Accounting Code Organization/Description

Amount

10-02-02 Office of the 8udget

Office of Information Systems

10-02-12 Telecommunications Management

BLS radios module upgrades $217,000

Switching panels for

911 Centers 30,000

Subtotal Telecommunications

Management $247,000

35-00-00 Department of Health and

Social Services

35-05-00 Division of Public Health

35-05-03 Office of Paramedic

Administration

Personnel Costs $168,500

Travel 2,500

Contractual Services 326,000

Supplies/Materials 15,000

Capital/Equipment 62,800

Subtotal Office of

Paramedic Administration $574,800

Total Section 2. $821,800

Section 3. A total of five (5.0) full time equivalent positions are authorized to the Department of Health and Social Services (35-00-00), Division of Public Health (35-05-00), Office of Paramedic Administration (35-05-03).

Section 4. The sums appropriated in Section 2 of this Act to the Office of the Budget (10-02-00), Office of Information Systems Telecommunications Management (10-02-12) shall be used for the one-time purchase and installation of module upgrades for emergency radios and necessary switching panels for the emergency 911 centers. The radio upgrades shall be made available exclusively to volunteer-operated basic life support ambulances. The module upgrades are necessary to give such radios the capacity to transmit electrocardiogram strips and other vital sign information that cannot be effectively transmitted to a hospital by means of regular voice contact. The switching panels are to be installed in county 9:1 emergency centers. This appropriation is not intended to be used to provide for the replacement of existing equipment that is in working order.

Section 5. The sums appropriated in Section 2 of this Act to the Department of Health and Social Services (35-00-00), Division of Public Health (35-05-00) shall be used to establish the Office of Paramedic Administration (35-05-03) pursuant to the provisions of the Delaware Paramedic Services Act ("The Act"), Title 16, Del. C., Chapter 98. The. Office shall be headed by an Administrator selected by the Director of Public Health who shall be especially trained and qualified in the field of emergency medical services. In addition, the Office shall employ one part-time Statewide Medical Director and three part-time County Medical Directors, who shall be appointed in accordance with the Act. The Office may also employ up to two additional staff persons.

Section 6. Notwithstanding Section 3 of this Act, the amount appropriated to the Department of Health and Social Services (35-00-00), Division of Public Health (35-05-00), Office of Paramedic Administration (35-05-03) in Section 2 of this Act for contractual services shall be used to provide for the cost of training emergency medical technician-paramedics and other costs associated with developing the statewide paramedic system.

Section 7. This Act shall be considered a supplementary appropriation for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1990, and the monies appropriated shall be paid from the General Fund of the State Treasury from monies not otherwise appropriated. Any funds remaining unexpended and unencumbered on June 30, 1990 shall revert to the General Fund.

Approved January 23, 1990.