Item Description:
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Direct county administrator to convene a task force to study the current governance and funding of Hennepin EMS; findings due to the County Board within one year of its formation; continue suspension of Section VII, Subsection 1-Staffing of Ordinance 9 until no later than 12/31/27
Resolution:
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BE IT RESOLVED, that the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners directs the county administrator to convene a task force to study the current governance and funding of Hennepin EMS; that task force findings are due to the County Board within one year of its formation; and that Section VII, Subsection 1-Staffing of Ordinance 9 will continue to be suspended until no later than December 31, 2027.
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Background:
On June 7, 2022, the Hennepin County Board adopted several revisions to Hennepin County Ordinance 9 - Emergency Medical Services (EMS) except proposed changes to the staffing requirement (Section VII, Subsection 1), that would mirror the Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Life Support (ALS) EMS staffing requirements in Minn. Stat. §144E.101 (144E). Ordinance 9 had previously required a two-paramedic staffing model (2-medic) for nearly all 9-1-1 responses in Hennepin County; the new staffing standard proposed a minimum of one paramedic and one emergency medical technician (EMT), or the 1-1 model, for 9-1-1 ALS responses and added an option for Basic Life Support (BLS) responses for some 9-1-1 requests.
After the Hennepin County Board’s approval of an amended version of Ordinance 9, the EMS Council was instructed to study the public health benefits, costs, impact on the public's access to ambulance services of acceptable quality, equity, and impact on the orderly development of regional systems of emergency medical care relating to staffing ALS ambulances with at least two paramedics versus staffing ALS ambulances with at least one paramedic and at one EMT. Three staffing study reports were submitted by staff on behalf of the EMS Council to the County Board that supported amendments to the staffing requirement so it would follow the Minn. Stat. §144E.101 staffing standards. An additional report on EMS Providers’ stroke and trauma performance measures data from 2024-25 was also submitted to the County Board.
A final decision on staffing requirements is due on or before the suspension of Ordinance 9 Section VII, Subsection 1: Staffing will terminate.
Current request:
This request directs the county administrator to convene a task force to study the current governance and funding of Hennepin EMS; that task force findings are due to the County Board within one year of its formation; and that Section VII, Subsection 1-Staffing of Ordinance 9 will continue to be suspended until no later than December 31, 2027. This action supports the county’s disparity elimination efforts in the health domain by supporting workforce development in the communities served by EMS providers.
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Recommendation from County Administrator: Recommend Approval