WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2011
VOL. 20 NO. 24
BERLIN, N.H.
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752-5858
Bass visits to get pulse on area happenings BY CRAIG LYONS THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
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BERLIN— Congressman Charlie Bass paid a visit to the North Country Monday to continue staying connected to the Second District’s constituents. Bass spent Monday touring the Berlin/ Gorham area and met with a number of local officials to hear what’s happening in the North Country. Bass said his visit was an opportunity to sit down with people and find out what’s happening and what’s on people’s minds. “I am having a great time spending the week going around seeing everyone,” said Bass. “I wanted to find out what’s going on and what I can do to help,” he added. Bass said he feels the key to successful representation is personal communication with people. Bass had a rigorous schedule throughout his day in the area. He met with the Gorham Town Manager Robin Frost; Berlin Mayor Paul Grenier; the owners of Isaacson Structural Steel; Berlin City Manger Pat MacQueen; the president of the Androscoggin Valley Hospital; representatives from White Mountains Community College; the staff at the Berlin High School Career and Technical Education program; representatives from Tri County community Action programs; staff at the Northern Forest Heritage Park; the new owner of the Milan General Store; the Berlin Airport; and Lowe’s Garage.
Congressman Charlie Bass speaks with Eric Kaminsky, manager of the Berlin Regional Airport, during a visit to the facility Monday. Bass stopped at the airport towards the end of visit after he spent the day meeting with local officials. (CRAIG LYONS PHOTO)
During each of those stops, Bass said he heard about the issues and challenges people are facing and often the themes of the conversations overlapped.
He said he heard about transportation issues; economic development issues; see BASS page 8
Gorham selectmen hear update on EMS dept BY CRAIG LYONS THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
GORHAM— The Gorham Board of Selectmen Monday night heard that everything is going well at the Gorham Emergency Medical Services department. E.M.S. Director Chad Miller met with the Board of Selectmen to provide an update on what’s been happening at the department so far this year. The board has been gradually meeting with all the town’s department heads to see what’s going on. Miller said the department has handled 179 calls so far this year. He added that’s significantly about the average in the past. Part of the increase in calls, Miller said, is that the departments now staffed with more paramedic-level people so more transfer calls are being taken. “We just have more availability,” said
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Miller. Overall, Miller said there’s about 70 percent remaining in the department’s budget. During the presentation, Miller outlined how the revenues for the department are going as well. He said so far the department has billed for $173,000 in services. He added some of that money won’t see a return on because of contractual agreements with the federal government and one insurance company that only pays for 85 percent of the billed services. Miller said that leaves about $134,000 remaining, and he’s received $77,000 in payments. He added some of the outstanding payments are from bills that were just issued so he wouldn’t have a better picture of any outstanding payments until the
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newest ones start coming in. Selectman David Graham said he’s concerned about outstanding bills since the board previously wrote off more than $100,000 that hadn’t been paid for a number of years. Miller said one improvement he’s exploring is outsourcing to a specialized firm that handles medical billing. Currently, the billing is handled by someone who isn’t certified and it might be better to contract with a third party for this service. Many of these firms see a higher percentage of invoices being paid and many even have a collections firm to handle unpaid bills. The only catch, said Miller, is that these firms take a percentage of what’s received. see UPDATE page 15
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