Prior to 1973 the ambulance service was provided through the Van Buren County Sheriffs Department via roving ambulances and a sub station at South Haven Township Hall. In 1973 the Sheriff's department turned the service over to local units of government and Van Buren County passed a ½ mil ambulance tax to be given to several ambulance districts. The county tax was divided and distributed between each ambulance district on a per capita base. These districts or ambulance services were operated by fire departments, VBEMS and South Haven Township. South Haven Township Ambulance provided services to the City of South Haven, South Haven, Casco and Geneva Townships. Whenever the township ambulance was in service the City fire department provided a back-up ambulance using their rescue truck.

In 1979 South Haven Township asked the City Fire Chief to take over daily oversight and operations of the Ambulance Service. The townships three employees and a new ambulance were placed in the city's fire station. When the ambulance responded to a call one township employee and one of the city's firefighters staffed the rig. Then in 1980 the township added one more employee under a federal grant program known as CETA to provide additional time off for their employees.

The City agreed to take over the ambulance service in 1982. The township agreed to transfer to the city over $70,000 of fund balance. This money was then used to purchase a new ambulance. The four township employees were hired by the city and the city's firefighters who where not trained as an EMT received their medical training bringing the total crew of Firefighter/EMT to twelve.

Through the late eighties and early nineties ambulance revenues from service charges deceased steadily. Changes in Medicare & Medicaid were primary causes, unpaid collectables and increasing overhead accounted for the other causes. Medicare went through many changes and services providers could choose to accept what Medicare approved (Medicare Provider) or not to participate and bill the patient the full amount of the service given. VanBuren County, South Haven Hospital and our area doctors reported a 70% Medicare/Medicaid customer base.

For instance a bill for ambulance service may be $250.00, Medicare may approve 60% or $150.00 and of this total they would pay 80% or $120.00. If the patient had a Medicare part B rider, they would pay the $30.00 difference if the patient had met his/her
deductible. As a Medicare provider the check for either 120 or 150 dollars would be sent directly to us and we could not bill for the balance of the $250.00. If we did not participate Medicare would send the check of 120 or 150 to the patient and we could bill for the full $250.00. In 1991 with input from our independent billing company it was decided not to participate in Medicare in order to decrease the amount of write downs & write offs (the amounts Medicare did not approve).

What we had anticipated was an increase in revenue but what actually happened was an increased in hardship to our older customers. Many being on a fixed income would pay anywhere from $5 to $15 dollars a month to payoff their balance, some couldn't pay at all and very few could pay it all. What actually happened was the billing company after a few months would write off the balances and our revenues did not increase. We did however increase the financial and emotional stress to our older population. In 1998 the SHAESA Board hired a new billing company and we began once again to accept Medicare.

In 2000 new rules were adopted by Medicare and the Federal Government and every ambulance company must be a provider (accept Medicare). Also in 2000 we became an advance life support (paramedic) agency and we believe this will provide some relief by increasing what Medicare will approve in our billings. Medicaid is mandatory and we must accept what they approve to pay us. At this writing we are paid a $119.00 flat fee.

At the end of fiscal year 1989 the ambulance budget had a thirty thousand deficit and each succeeding year that amount climbed ten thousand more. It was decided to increase ambulance billing rates and we assumed that additional revenues would be received from these increases. These rate changes were placed in the budget but were actually uncollectable from at least 70% of our customers there by compounding the annual deficits. By 1992 the city asked for a ten dollar per capita from each township and then in 1993 they requested a seventeen dollar per capita subsidy. Prior to 1992 the townships paid a contractual amount of approximately $3.00 per capita while the City's residents were paying $27.00 per capita. It was decided by all parties (Casco, South Haven & Geneva Townships and the City) to explore other options for ambulance service. An Ambulance Study Committee was formed and met over the next four years.

Fire Division

The South Haven Fire Department was organized in 1888 and employed a fulltime fire warden known now as the Fire Chief. Records show that in the 1920s the department had four fulltime drivers and five part-time firefighters. The City fire services were also provided to Casco, South Haven and Geneva Townships via contracts. In 1957 Casco Township decided to have their own fire department and their first station was built at the intersection of 64th street and 107th avenue. By the late fifties and through the mid seventies the City fire department had eight fulltime firefighters, a fulltime Chief and up to seventeen part-time firefighters.

In 1982 the South Haven Fire Department was operating the ambulance service and through contracts were providing ambulance service to Casco, South Haven and Geneva Townships. Casco also contracted for the fire department to act as the first response unit to their southwest lower corner of the township in 1984. During the mid eighties many of the Casco and South Haven firefighters trained together, I believe that this helped in the merger of the two departments.

During the late eighties and early nineties budget deficits in the ambulance division took funds from the fire division in an attempt to balance the ambulance budget. There were no cash reserves targeted at apparatus or critical equipment replacement. The city had three new trucks and a new fire station to pay for and with the removal of funds to the ambulance budget few if any necessities could be purchased. With the formation of the Ambulance Study Committee in 1992 it was clear that any changes made in the ambulance service would conversely affect the fire service also.

Ambulance Study Committee

This committee was appointed from each governmental unit and was comprised of members from each unit's board or council. The first meeting was held in 1992 and the committee would meet every other week and sometimes twice a week for the next few years. Quotes from private and public ambulance services were received along with service level studies. In the proposals the private firms would reduce the number of ambulances increasing response times to second and third calls. The department had and still requires station #3 (City fire station) to be minimally staffed with two. This requires calling in off duty staff and part-time personnel when less than four persons are on duty. It was decided that it was in the best public interest to keep the fire and ambulance service together and that it be operated by a municipality and not a private firm. The committee made a milestone decision in 1994 to hire a consulting firm to study the feasibility of creating a joint fire and ambulance service.

David M. Griffith consulting was hired to prepare a study of the fire and ambulance service and give the committee a recommendation for implementation of a joint governmental service. Included in the study were; a time line for implementation, a first year budget with a capital replacement component and what legal basis to follow. The report was accepted in late 1994 and the decision to form an Authority through the Michigan Urban Cooperation Act was agreed to by all governmental units by mid October 1995.

The new authority was to start operations on January 1, 1996 giving the committee only a few short months to get all necessary matters in place. One of the first was the appointing of the Authority Board members from each governmental unit and choosing a name for the legal documents needed.

South Haven Area Emergency Services Authority

The first SHAESA Board was comprised of members from the Ambulance Study Committee. At their first meeting members installed Robert Freye as Chairman, Ross Stein as Vice Chair, Alan Overhiser as Secetary, Linda Irwin as Treasurer and Alan Vanderberg as Administrator. The board also approved Randy Van Wynen as the Executive Director (aka Fire Chief).

At the first board meeting approvals for: the first years budget, the lease & equipment agreements with Casco and the City, the administrative agreement with the City and a labor contact with the union were approved. Under the agreement no employee would be placed in a worse position and service levels could not be reduced. .

While many of the consultant's findings were used the Chief recommended not to reduce the fulltime staff to eleven and place them into a three-shift system or to use the proposed equipment recommendations. The board agreed to keep the staff at twelve and to retain two shifts in order to provide the maximum number of personnel on duty and reduce the probability of increasing overtime. Board meetings are currently held at 7pm on the first Wednesday of the month at fire station #3.