A hearing for an EMS Funding Task Force took place Monday afternoon in Maroa.

The Task Force is made up of 24 bipartisan members of the Illinois House of Representatives. Representatives Don Moffit and Lisa Dugan are the co-chairs of the committee, who have been a part of 17 hearings, including yesterdays at the Maroa Fire House. Rep. Moffit says the purpose of the Task Force is to hear from local people involved in the everyday operations of EMS to find out what the state can do a better job of.

[audio:emshearing1.mp3]A Word From Moffit[/audio]

Several Clinton and DeWitt County leaders were on hand. Ambulance Manager for the Dr. John Warner Hospital, Terrence Hubbard, was the first to speak before the members of the task force. The city owned hospital is one of three Illinois hospitals owned by a city. The point of view which Hubbard spoke from was certainly unique to the Representatives there. Hubbard spoke on many topics, and made a couple of suggests on how to improve emergency services throughout the state. First by providing more funds to them and also enforcing higher reimbursement rates from Medicare and Medicade.

[audio:emshearing2.mp3]A Word From Hubbard[/audio]

EMS managers, hospital representatives and Fire Department chiefs from all over the area were present as well for the meetings, and everyone in attendance that wanted to speak was able to do so.

The meeting was coordinated by Representatives Bill Mitchell and Chapin Rose. The Task Force was hoping to have a report to put together to bring back to the General Assembly by January 1, but that deadline will most likely not be met, and a concrete date for the report to be complete has not yet been established.