League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Mendocino, Sonoma County, CA April 10, 2012 Election
	Measure B Allow provision of Urgent Care without regard to time of day Coast Life Support District Majority Approval Required Final Election Night Report Pass: 782 / 87.5% Yes votes ...... 112 / 12.5% No votes See Also: Index of all Measures

Arguments For Measure B

Voting Yes on Measure B approves a change in Measure O, passed in 1997, to remove the words "after hours" from that tax measure. Parcel tax funds, being collected by Coast Life Support District (CLSD), could be allocated to support urgent and emergency medical services provided at any time of the day. No tax increase is required. Redwood Coast Medical Services (RCMS) is the sole provider of medical services in this community. A medical team, trained in emergency medicine, is available at the RCMS Gualala facility to treat community residents and visitors requiring urgent or emergency medical care, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. RCMS's Gualala facility is also designated by the State of California as an Interim Stabilization and Triage facility. This means the RCMS urgent care team can accept ambulance transports and evaluate and treat patients in need of emergency care either before, or in place of, transport to another medical facility. This level of triage can be critical in lifethreatening emergencies such as stroke, heart attack or serious injury. Availability of urgent/emergency medical care is a high priority with this community. However, it is expensive. RCMS loses approximately $300,000/year providing this service, partly because reimbursement from Medicare, MediCal and other insurance covers approximately 60% of the cost. While RCMS urgent care patients may receive the same or similar treatment as in a hospital emergency room or urban urgent care clinic, RCMS cannot bill at the same rates as those facilities. Currently, RCMS must rely on community fundraising to support this valuable service. Urgent and emergency medical care and treatment is vital to our community. Vote YES on B to keep this service available. s/Diane Agee DIANE AGEE CEO, Redwood Coast Medical Services s/Thomas A. Bertolli THOMAS A. BERTOLLI, MD Medical Director Redwood Coast Medical Services This section was intentionally left blank. (No arguments against Measure B were submitted)

Full Text of Measure B

AN ORDINANCE AMENDING MEASURE O TO AUTHORIZE THE DISTRICT TO PROVIDE URGENT MEDICAL CARE SERVICES WITHOUT LIMITATION TO TIME OF DAY SECTION I. PURPOSE AND INTENT It is the purpose of this Ordinance to amend Coast Life Support District Measure O, originally passed in 1997, to eliminate the term "After Hours." It is the intent of this Ordinance to allow the District to use Measure O funds to provide urgent medical care services. Other than authorizing urgent medical care services, this Ordinance does not change any other provisions of Measure O and does not create any new special taxes. SECTION II. NO CHANGE IN MEASURE O TAX LIMIT This Ordinance does not change the existing Measure O tax limit SECTION III. SEVERABILITY CLAUSE If any section, subsection, sentence, phrase or clause of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The Directors of the District hereby declare that they would have adopted the Ordinance and each section thereof despite the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, phrases or clauses be declared invalid. SECTION IV. EFFECTIVE DATE This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its confirmation by a majority of the voters in the District voting in an election to be held on April 10, 2012.