Virginia Beach City Council voted Tuesday to fund an Emergency Medical Services pharmacy program.
The program will bring the Virginia Beach EMS into compliance with federal requirements. It’s also contributing to higher costs for service, prompting the city to consider billing for ambulance rides later this year.
Since the 1970s, paramedics in Hampton Roads swapped depleted medical supply kits for fully stocked ones at area hospitals. Hospital pharmacies shouldered the cost and management of the medications but the system made it difficult to track drugs as kits passed between different hospitals to rescue squads.
Now, under federal laws including the Drug Supply Chain Security Act of 2013, EMS departments have to establish pharmacy programs — and pay for them.
In November, EMS Chief Jason Stroud said total EMS expenses have increased about 40% in the past four years and volunteer fundraising has not kept pace. The city funds the EMS and its budget last year was $25 million, double what it was five years ago, Stroud said.
One thing driving costs is the requirement to fund the pharmacy program. The city added $560,000 to last year’s EMS budget for start-up costs and two full-time positions to run the program.
The council voted Tuesday to appropriate another $320,000 to set up and stock pharmacy inventory and pay for other costs. The Virginia Department of Health granted the program $161,553 and the city matched it.
The pharmacy program is a “massive, major” change for the EMS, Division Chief Bruce Nedelka said. It required overhauling infrastructure from the ground up, adding software and equipment to depots and fire stations to manage medications, especially narcotics.
The program is required to be running by April.
One solution the city is considering for increased EMS costs is a compassionate billing program. Virginia Beach does not charge for ambulance rides, but that could change this year.
A study commissioned by the Council of Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squads found billing for EMS services would net roughly $14.5 million in 2025. The council voted in December to include a billing program in the next budget, which it will consider and formally adopt in the spring.
Stroud said EMS would not deny service with the billing program, regardless of a person’s ability to pay. The city may also opt to waive fees not covered by insurance for Virginia Beach residents or adopt a policy to write off outstanding debt for EMS patients.
