Lavaca County EMS Chief attends bill signing with Texas Governor Abbott

Lavaca County Emergency Management Services Chief Michael Furrh joined fellow rural leaders for the ceremonial signing of House Bill 3000, a major piece of legislation aimed at improving emergency medical response in rural Texas. 
The bill, signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott at the Hyatt Regency in Austin during the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals (TORCH) conference, provides crucial funding for ambulance replacements across underserved counties. 
Counties with populations between 10,000 and 68,000 residents will receive $350,000, while counties with fewer than 10,000 residents will receive $500,000 toward the purchase of new ambulances. 
Lavaca County EMS will qualify for the $350,000.
“House Bill 3000 was started by the County Judge of Lamb County, Judge Mike DeLoach,” Furrh said. “They faced the same challenges we face here too. We provide a service to the community and the cost of living and inflation continues to rise. 
Our smaller counties have a little bit harder of a time keeping up when it comes to budgeting for ambulance purchases and the capital equipment that goes with it. We caught word of this bill and started talking with some of our lawmakers that we associate with quite often and it just took off.”

Furrh said he remembers when an ambulance cost $190,000. “Now, a base model of our typical ambulance that we have is around $390,000 and that doesn’t include the equipment that goes inside of it which is about $80,000,” Furrh said.
Furrh, who testified in support of HB 3000 on behalf of Lavaca and Colorado Counties, as well as all rural counties statewide, was in attendance for the signing. He described the moment as an “honor.” The bill was sponsored in part by Senator Charles Perry and Representative Ken King. 
“Their reaction to this bill was positive,” Furrh said. “This was one bill that I saw went through this year that there was not any real argument about it. There wasn’t a lot of revision to the language. 
Sometimes these bills get kicked back and forth between the Senate and the House and it ultimately dies, or you end up with a bill that doesn’t even look like it started. This one, however, stayed in tact.”
Furrh noted that he testified numerous times during the recent legislative session on HB 3000 and other measures designed to strengthen emergency medical services in rural counties. 
“People are moving to Lavaca County and we see it,” Furrh said. “We really try to model this bill after Senate Bill 2 which was passed last legislative session to help fund law enforcement in the state. I went up testifying three times this year. The process is interesting. 
If you have never gone or done it, you need to. You basically sign up and wait until it’s your turn and you have three minutes to try and tell a really long story.”
Furrh said it was especially meaningful to be present for the signing alongside healthcare partners from the Yoakum Community Hospital (YCH) and Rice Medical Center and Associates. 
“These local hospitals are great in their support,” Furrh said. “You have to have great relationships with your local hospitals. I know both of the CEO’s of YCH and Rice Medical and I’m glad they were there. We work together on a weekly basis. We transfer their patients to the next higher level of care. 
When they try to get their patients to Austin, San Antonio, or Houston – they call us. We have to have that working relationship in order for the whole rural healthcare model to succeed.”
Furrh said that he was a bit surprised when the Senate said they will have a bill signing ceremony. “It was a really neat experience,” Furrh said. “It was nice to see hometown folks up in Austin and was nice to meet the Governor again. 
Interestingly enough, he remembered my name because we have seen each other a few times over the course of the last six months from when I was on deployment.
“This bill will help us out tremendously to be able to put a new ambulance on the street for our almost 21,000 citizens we have. When you’re in rural EMS, you tend to run through ambulances a little quicker because we put a lot more miles on our ambulances than our urban counterparts. We also have a little bit more challenging terrain than they do.”
Furrh wants to thank the Dickson-Allen Foundation as well as the taxpayers for their support in emergency medical services. “We appreciate the support of our community,” Furrh said.