Brentwood fire chief says St. Mary's cath lab staffing led to ambulance bypass; $65,000 GEMT audit in dispute

Brentwood's fire chief informed the Public Safety Committee Aug. 27 that emergency crews bypassed Saint Mary's Hospital for a critically ill patient because the hospital's cath lab was not staffed, and that the city is disputing a Missouri GEMT (Ground Emergency Medical Transport) audit request for $65,000 covering fiscal years 2022–23.

“A patient playing baseball fell into cardiac arrest,” the Fire Chief said. “They did revive the patient. … Saint Mary's then transferred the patient to Saint Louis University Hospital. As fire chief, that's unacceptable. Their cath lab was not operational because it was not staffed. So if they cannot guarantee their staffing 24/7, we're not gonna take these critically ill patients to them. We're gonna bypass them and go to a more appropriate hospital.”

The chief told the committee the decision to bypass is consistent with guidance from the city's medical director and that he will include the information in weekly reports so aldermen can explain it if constituents ask.

On reimbursement, the chief said the state contracts with Myers and Stauffer to audit GEMT and that Myers and Stauffer have requested repayment of roughly $65,000 for FY22–23. He said the city's consultant PCG disputes the audit findings and that the matter is under appeal: “They are disputing that request. They believe there's coding errors in Myers and Stauffer's review.” He added that the city typically received a GEMT deposit in April and that for fiscal year 2024 the anticipated deposit was about $39,000. If the $65,000 request is upheld, the chief said, “we're gonna have a net 0 gain in GEMT for this fiscal year for the city of Brentwood.”

The chief also presented operational measures: Brentwood is on track to run nearly 2,700 calls this calendar year, up from roughly 2,300 last year, a change he attributed partly to multiple storm events and continuing post-tornado activity.

Ending: The fire chief said staff will continue to report operationally and will present an actionable item on GEMT data collection at the next public safety meeting; no change to hospital destination protocols was adopted at the Aug. 27 meeting.