THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2011
VOL. 20 NO. 73
Five candidates for state prison warden BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN -- N.H. Correctional Commissioner William Wrenn said there are five finalists for the position of warden at the Northern N.H. Correctional Facility. Warden Larry Blaisdell retired at the end of May and Christopher Kench, director of security and training with the department, is serving as interim warden. Wrenn said the five finalists were selected from 21 applicants for the position. He said the candidates will be interviewed on August 25 by a board that includes
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two members of the Northern Correctional Facility’s Citizen Advisory Board. Wrenn said he hopes to have a recommendation to make to Governor Lynch by the end of September. The Executive Council must approve any appointment by Lynch. Chief of Security Major Dennis Cox at the Berlin facility also retired at the end of May. Capt. Scott Lambertson is now Chief of Security. Meeting with the advisory board yesterday, Wrenn said corrections is looking at out-sourcsee WARDEN page 6
Citizen Advisory Board looking for members BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN -- The Northern N.H. Correctional Facility is looking for citizens interested in serving on the Citizens Advisory Committee. The 10-member body provides input and guidance in the development and implementation of strategic planning and policy and procedure directives governing
the operation of the facility. The committee meets quarterly at the prison. In addition, all citizen advisory groups come together at least once a year to address matters of common interest and departmentwide significance. Concerned citizens who have an interest in the operation of the department and bring a diversity see MEMBERS page 7
Corrections Officer Howard Kelley of Berlin was honored yesterday with the N.H. Corrections Department’s Honorable Service Medal by Commissioner William Wrenn. On Dec. 30, Kelley was home when his neighbor’s six year old daughter came to him for help, reporting that her mother had fallen in the driveway. Kelley and another neighbor called 911 and brought the woman inside where Kelley administered first aid until the Berlin EMTs arrived. The woman survived. The honorable service medal is awarded to an employee of the department for a highly creditable accomplishment that brings acclaim to oneself, the department, or profession as a result of devotion to duty or service to the public. (BARBARA TETREAULT PHOTO).
Gorham EMS to raise rates, contract billing BY MELISSA GRIMA THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
GORHAM — The rates for a ride in a Gorham ambulance will be going up for some. Gorham EMS Director Chad Miller provided a quarterly report to the selectmen on Monday night and outlined some changes to billing rates as well as changes to the agency’s billing itself, both of which are anticipated to have a positive impact on revenues for the town service. Miller told the board that as of August 1, the medical billing for ambulance services will be outsourced to Comstar — a Massachusetts based claims, bill-
ing and collection company. He said that the change means that billing will be done twice weekly instead of monthly and will hopefully reduce the number of days the town has to wait to be paid. The current average for accounts receivable is greater than 90 days, he explained. Comstar would receive a seven percent commission on payments, Miller noted, but the town retains complete control of the process and write-offs. In conjunction to contracting out the service, Miller looked to the board for a consensus on raising the rates charged by the EMS for services to bring them more in line with the industry. He said Com-
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star had suggested changing rates to the Medicare allowable payment plus 100 percent, but he felt a more comfortable number was Medicare plus 75 percent. As a point of clarification Miller explained under questioning from selectman Paul Robitaille that Medicare patients would be charged only the allowable reimbursement as required by law, with the difference in cost written off. Private pay patients and insurance companies would be billed at the higher rate, with one notable exception, Miller said. The law allows a municipality to charge its residents,
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