Ambulances rush out, sirens blaring, more and more often. Emergency medical services are keeping the fire department busier than ever. The population is aging. There are more calls for medical help at assisted living complexes — and there’s pressure to build more of them.
“Another facility like this will have a major impact,” fire Chief Kevin Tappe told the selectmen, meeting as the town’s Fire Commission on Wednesday, May 13.
The previous evening, the Planning and Zoning Commission had been approached by Maplewood Healthcare, an operator of numerous assisted living facilities, about the possibility of building an 85- or 90-unit complex on Danbury Road.
“That’s fine,” Tappe said later. “I think these facilities are needed. And, obviously, if they need EMS they should call us. But we can predict an impact, I think.”
The chief has numbers to make the case.
“Our EMS calls have increased 144% over 10 years …” he said, “14% a year.”
He looked at a few facilities, comparing the number of residential units in the facilities with the number of EMS calls they generate in a year.
“At Ridgefield Crossings at 640 Danbury Road, in the last five years, the calls have increased up there from a half a call per unit to over one call per unit each year,” he said. “They have a 104 units.”
Other facilities, in other towns, also show a high rate of use.
“Maplewood in Danbury, the EMS is doing over two calls per unit up there. Maplewood in Darien is doing a little over one call per unit — 1.18 calls per unit. Atria in Darien, last year did almost one call per unit — this is last year, 2014.
“In Newtown, they’ve been averaging a little under one call per unit — 0.71. They have 100 units.
“In Bethel — I don’t know the number of units, it’s a large facility directly across from the fire station, it’s not fully opened yet — it was partially occupied last January and the Stony Hill Fire Department is already running at least two calls per week there for EMS, and that’s not even fully occupied yet.
“All I’m saying is, obviously, in any of these units that we looked at, they’ve all had an increase in calls — almost double in the last five years, in some of these units.”
Ridgefield Crossings, at 640 Danbury Road, is a case in point.
“At 640 Danbury Road, back in 2009 we had 52 calls there. In 2014, we had at least 113 — and probably more, sometimes it’s a little difficult to extract the data,” Tappe said.
“Maplewood in Danbury, in 2010 they had 84 calls there, but last year they had 130. It’s 64 units.”
Demographic changes
“It’s not just facilities like this …” he said. “We’re talking about the general changes in demographics.
“There’s more people over 65, throughout the country.”
He referred to the Planning and Zoning Commission’s Comprehensive Plan update.
“They estimate the population of Ridgefield will increase 1% a year, but the population of those people over 65 will increase by 3% a year,” the chief said.
According to the projections from the U.S. Census, 13.6% of Ridgefield’s population was over 65 in 2013.
“The population over 65 years old accounts for over half our EMS calls a year,” Tappe said.
Call volume
The fire department’s level of emergency calls in general has been rising steadily, as has the percentage of those calls that are for ambulance’s EMS services.
Tappe provided figures for the last 10 completed years:
• 2004 — Total calls, 1,911; EMS, 905 (47%)
• 2005 — Total calls, 1,812; EMS, 838 (46%)
• 2006 — Total calls, 2,399; EMS, 1,392 (58%)
• 2007 — Total calls, 3,187; EMS, 1,926 (60%)
• 2008 — Total calls, 3,410; EMS, 1,967 (57%)
• 2009 — Total calls, 3,159; EMS, 1,962 (62%)
• 2010 — Total calls, 3,248; EMS, 2,074 (64%)
• 2011 — Total calls, 3,727; EMS, 2,134 (57%)
• 2012 — Total calls, 3,348; EMS, 2,160 (65%)
• 2013 — Total calls, 3,374; EMS, 2,182 (65%)
• 2014 — Total calls, 3,307; EMS, 2,217 (67%)
Tax generators
Assisted living properties have been sought by many communities because they generate substantial tax revenue — and have no schoolchildren — saving the towns on education, their most costly public service.
According to Assessor Al Garzi, the Ridgefield Crossings property pays about $240,500 a year in taxes — $217,000 on the real estate and the rest “personal property tax” on equipment that’s on-site.
The selectmen told Chief Tappe they’d like to discuss the subject of EMS calls to assisted living complexes in more depth when he comes to them in the near future with a strategic plan for the future of the fire department.
First Selectman Rudy Marconi said there might be things the town could look at doing differently.
Ambulance location?
“The reason a potential Maplewood assisted living facility on this particular parcel is part of a strategic plan document is that when you add to our current call volume in that area, Routes 7 and 35, we may ask for a consideration for an ambulance to be located there, on the property,” he said.
“And that impacts our strategic plan as we look at the town over the next 10 to 20 years, and where our demands will be, geographically,” Marconi said.
“If we are going to have to deal with this, in assisted living facilities, we need to be prepared.”
Tappe agreed that it might be worth looking at the idea of running ambulances out of a location near the intersection of Route 7 and Route 35.
“If you look at where our calls are, in Ridgefield a quarter of our calls are up in the 7/35 area,” he said.
“If we’re responding from headquarters, they’re at the far end. It may be better to locate an ambulance up in that area.”
The town already has a second fire station, in Ridgebury, and the addition of a third location might be a stretch for a department of 37 with a budget of under $4 million a year.
“How do we do that? Do we vacate Ridgebury and build something in that part of town?” he said. “Or do we add a third location?”
Marconi said he might like to bring the Maplewood people into the conversation with town officials, if the developer pursues plans for another assisted living complex.
“These types of facilities do put a demand on your services, EMS services, and we want to be sure that if a facility is approved and built, (A) this requirement is taken into consideration during the discussion of this facility and (B) that we partner to more efficiently and better serve people in need.”
Zone changes
The eight-acre site the Maplewood people are looking at would have to be rezoned, to accommodate an assisted living development.
Town Planner Betty Brosius said the likely zone to be used there would be the “Age Restricted Housing District or “ARHD, similar to Ridgefield Crossings.”
Chief Tappe said the selectmen were trying to be reasonable about plans and budgeting, given all the requests and proposals talked of over the years — a new police station, a new fire station, a combined police and fire station.
“We’re just trying to plan for the future, rather than react to things,” Tappe said.
“One of the things Rudy had asked for in the future was a long-range plan,” he said.
“The reason for that was the talk of a new fire station, or a new public safety administration building.
“He wanted to use taxpayer dollars efficiently. He didn’t want to open a new fire station that’s too small the day it opens.
“Plus, is our service going to change? Are we going to be more EMS?”
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