Non profit leadership assignment bellefonte emergency medical services

Bellefonte Emergency Medical ServicesA LEADERSHIP PICTURE

BY FAWN GUIGNET

WHAT IS BEMS?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bellefonte-EMS/372533846157215?id=372533846157215&sk=photos_stream

MISSION:To provide emergency & non-emergency medical services to our community with the highest quality of patient care and compassion.




GOALS & STRATEGY Communication & Critical Thinking Skills

Previous Success in Grant Writing for BEMS

Excellence in treating patients

Excellence in training new employees

The organization needs leadership help in a big way.

The vast majority of front-line employees are frustrated with management, but refuse to leave the organization because they are loyal to it’s purpose. The values are there, but the leadership is ineffective

BEMS needs to focus on developing the leadership skills of supervisors

My grant-writing is helping the organization to advance as a leader in Emergency Services in Centre County





STRUCTURE & RESOURCES Grant receipt has been slow, so

at this time, the activities do meet the programmatic objectives. It is a work in progress

We do not have the ability to meet our goals alone. We rely on grants to become an industry leader. The organization survives on Medicare Reimbursements, which decrease every year

Growth is measured by hosting continuing education, employee morale, volunteer involvement





FINANCIAL HEALTH: BUDGET Total budget = $1 million

Annual budget growth over last five years = 3%

Source of funds: Reimbursement 61% Subscription Drive 35% Grants 4%




FINANCIAL HEALTH: EXPENSES Vehicle/Equipment

Maintenance 10%

Staff 65%

Technology / IT 3%

Operating Expenses 14%

Building Expenses 8%





INTERNAL COMMUNICATION Face-to-face – daily

Newsletter – never

Email – Weekly

IM - Never

Email is the preferred method of communication because – Recorded and easy to access at a later time




EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION External communications occur

with patients and other medical care providers daily.

Other External Communication: Media – rarely

Legislators – Bi-Monthly





MEMBERSHIP Members: 20 – 25 Average

We have decreased membership over the past 5 years.

No annual dues – Volunteer and Paid EMS Service

Volunteer Fair is sole recruitment opportunity





PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Children’s Fair and Touch a Truck are the two annual local outings.

Associated Budget:

Children’s Fair - $500

Touch a Truck - $350

No Profit made on either event - $0

No Major Publications

For an Ambulance Service, there is no product except quality customer service in a timely fashion

We currently operate 3 BLS ambulances, 3 para-transit vans and 1 mass casualty response vehicle






MARKETING Mail marketing is the only type of

marketing utilized – 250 hours per year

3% of budget is spent on IT

Website was update over the past year to share general information with the public

We don’t participate in web promotions

Name, DOB, Health insurance information are collected from patients





BOARD RELATIONS 12 members sit on the board

Gender – 75% male

25% female Race

100% Caucasian Age

80% over 40 years of age

5 – 7 years average board tenure

The board is not active as most members live out-of-state





VOLUNTEER & EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT Leadership qualities required are compassion,

responsive to the needs of the community and staff, business knowledge, customer service, BLS EMS Provider

Top three priorities of leadership: manage the business, interact with the public, help staff manage the business/interact with the public

Leadership Challenges - Patients, staff and $$

Compassion is the most important quality

We are a job – retention is not a focused priority therefore nothing is done to retain employees

Employee trained as leaders by attending courses and classes

Volunteers are not actively recruited

Staff participates in trainings such as: ICS, NIMS, PA DOH EMT-B, HAZ-MAT OPS

Greatest Concerns: financial strength, operational efficiency, organizational development





LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Essential Quality: Compassion

Staff required training: ICS, NIMS, PA DOH EMT-B, HAZ-MAT OPS

Leadership Challenges: financial strength, operational efficiency, organizational development





THE FINANCIAL MELTDOWN OF 2008-2009 Cautious spending is our only

defense

Medicare reimbursements are falling while expenses are rising

Business has changed in that we are shopping for the best price, increased focus on grants and obtaining grants for new technology.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/04/30/162565/three-ways-save-medicare/



CHALLENGES IDENTIFIED


The vast majority of front-line employees are frustrated with management, but refuse to leave the organization because we believe in it’s purpose. The values are there, but the leadership is ineffective

No volunteer recruitment or retention

No employee recruitment or retention




CHALLENGES IDENTIFIED



Cautious spending is our only defense




SUGGESTED STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE


Cautious spending is our only defense


Actively seek out additional grants to assist in defray costs

Build employee morale to support smart company spending and conservation of resources




PERSONAL CONTRIBUTION


I have located a grant prospect: Max and Louise Dreyfus Foundation

The Letter of Intent is completed

We are asking the foundation for $20,000 for bariatric ambulance conversion




CONCLUSION


Most Emergency Medical Services have leadership problems

BEMS is in a tough place in terms of employee morale

They have what it takes to fix the broken staff relationship




Health & Medicine

Non profit leadership assignment bellefonte emergency medical services