HomeMy WebLinkAboutA012 - Resolution approving Memorandum of Agreement with Mary Greeley Medical Center for Alternative Response to Community Health Calls for ServiceITEM #:12
DATE:11-18-25
DEPT:POLICE
SUBJECT:APPROVAL OF A MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT WITH MARY GREELEY
MEDICAL CENTER FOR ALTERNATIVE RESPONSE TO COMMUNITY
HEALTH CALLS FOR SERVICE
COUNCIL ACTION FORM
BACKGROUND:
In spring 2025, through the budget process, the City Council approved supporting the City's
partnership with Mary Greeley Medical Center (MGMC) by funding the Alternative Response
for Community Health (ARCH) program in the amount of $132,000 for fiscal year 2025/26.
This amount was a $30,000 increase compared to FY 2024/25.
ARCH is a team employed by Mary Greeley Medical Center comprised of a social worker and
a medical professional who respond to calls with a mental health component. The team is
dispatched through the City's Communications Center. When a call for service comes into the
Communications Center, it is triaged and the appropriate responder is dispatched, whether
that be a police officer, fire personnel, ARCH, EMS, or a combination.
The goal of ARCH is to provide high quality services while freeing up other first responders
and diverting Emergency Room visits. ARCH also works with the Police Department's Mental
Health Advocate and the Homelessness Outreach Support Team (HOST) to conduct follow-
ups on calls for service.
Although ARCH has continued to provide services and City Council has already
appropriated $132,000 for FY 2025/26, an updated agreement has not been fully
executed. The attached agreement, therefore, is effective July 1, 2025 and will remain in
effect for a period of five years.
The service agreement outlines the scope of the ARCH program, responsibilities of MGMC
and the City, the budget and financial support from the City for ARCH, and performance data
e x p e ctati o n s. T h e City’s commitment to financially support ARCH service past FY
2025/2026, is dependent on future appropriation of funds by the City Council.
In addition, on October 28, 2025 the Council approved up to $10,000 of previously
undesignated Analysis of Social Services Evaluation Team (ASSET) funding to HOST to be
used for homelessness outreach. The HOST team is made up of MCMC-ARCH staff, the
City's Mental Health Advocate, and a staff member at The Salvation Army. This agreement
allows MGMC-ARCH to become the fiscal agent of the outreach funds.
ALTERNATIVES:
1. Approve the Memorandum of Agreement between Mary Greeley Medical Center and the
City of Ames, Iowa for an Alternative Response to Community Health Calls for Service.
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2. Do not approve the Memorandum of Agreement between Mary Greeley Medical Center
and the City of Ames, Iowa for an Alternative Response to Community Health Calls for
Service.
CITY MANAGER'S RECOMMENDED ACTION:
The partnership with Mary Greeley Medical Center for the ARCH program provides
quality and effective services to address crisis situations while freeing up other first
responders and diverting expensive visits to the Emergency Room. The model of
dispatching the team through the City's Emergency Communication Center has proven
to be beneficial to all involved. The attached agreement allows this partnership to
continue. Therefore, it is the recommendation of the City Manager that the City Council adopt
Alternative No. 1, as described above.
This action to approve the joint agreement will have no effect on the FY 2025/26 budget
since the funding obligations highlighted for the current fiscal year have already been
appropriated in the budget.
ATTACHMENT(S):
Service_Agreement_ARCH FINAL.pdf
ARCH annual report 2024.pdf
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Memorandum of Agreement between Mary Greeley Medical
Center and the City of Ames, Iowa for an Alternative Response
to Community Health Calls for Service
This Memorandum of Agreement (“Agreement”) is entered into by and between Mary
Greeley Medical Center (“MGMC”) and the City of Ames (“City”), collectively referred to
as the “Parties.”
1. Purpose
The purpose of this Agreement is to establish the terms and conditions under which
MGMC and City will collaborate in providing the Alternative Response to Community
Health (ARCH) program, a specialized service designed to respond to 911 calls with a
focus on mental health crisis stabilization, de-escalation, and connection to community
resources.
2. Term
This Agreement shall become effective on July 1, 2025, and remain in effect for a period
of five (5) years, unless earlier terminated in accordance with Section 8 of this Agreement.
3. Scope of Service – ARCH Program
Mary Greeley Medical Center (MGMC) will provide the ARCH service with a specialized
911 response unit staffed by professionals trained in mental health and crisis stabilization,
including Emergency Medical Services (EMS) staff.
The ARCH unit will:
• Provide 60 hours of service per week. Service calls are to be staffed by two-person
teams.
• Respond to 911 calls deemed appropriate for the ARCH service by the Public
Safety Dispatch Communications Center.
• Focus on de-escalating situations involving individuals in crisis.
• Assist with connecting individuals to available community resources for ongoing
support and care.
4. Responsibilities of Mary Greeley Medical Center
MGMC agrees to:
• Provide trained and qualified personnel for the ARCH unit.
• Maintain licensure, supervision, and compliance with applicable health care
standards.
• Submit required documentation and performance data as outlined in Sections 6
and 7.
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5. Responsibilities of Ames Police Department
City agrees to:
• Collaborate with MGMC to ensure effective dispatch and response of the ARCH
unit.
• Maintain operational oversight for police-related functions.
• Provide coordination with the Public Safety Dispatch Communications Center.
6. Budget and Financial Support
To accomplish the scope of service described in Section 3, the total cost of providing the
ARCH service is $308,005 per year.
The City of Ames agrees to pay Mary Greeley Medical Center (MGMC) up to $132,000 as
its share of the financial support for the ARCH service for fiscal year 2025/2026. This
financial obligation shall be satisfied by monthly payments of up to $11,000 from the City
to MGMC. The monthly payment of up to $11,000 is dependent on MGMC meeting the
responsibilities listed in section 4. The City’s financial support of the ARCH service past
fiscal year 2025/2026 is dependent on appropriation of funds by Ames City Council.
MGMC shall submit to the City Director of Finance documentation of hours actually worked
each month by the ARCH responders. The required documentation shall be submitted by
the 15th of the following month. By the last day of the following month, the City will issue
payment to MGMC in the amount specified above.
In addition to financial support for the ARCH service, the City will make a one-time
contribution of up to $10,000 to ARCH for use by the Homeless Outreach and Support
Team (HOST). The City’s contribution must be used by HOST to purchase bus
tickets/passes, mobile phone minutes/cards, pay application fees for apartments or
identifying documents, or purchase clothing items for unhoused residents of the City of
Ames. At the end of twelve months, or when the City’s entire contribution has been spent,
HOST must provide an accounting to the City regarding HOST’s expenditure of said
contribution.
7. Performance Data and Reporting
MGMC shall collect and provide performance data related to the ARCH service. At a
minimum, this data shall include:
• Number of welfare checks conducted
• Number of positive outcomes achieved
• Number of emergency room visits avoided
• Number of ambulance calls avoided
• Number of police responses avoided
• Number of police department responses with early release
• Number of ARCH transports completed
• Number of ambulance transfers completed
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MGMC shall submit performance data to the City of Ames on at least a quarterly basis, or
more frequently if requested by either Party. The Parties agree to review this data jointly
to evaluate program effectiveness, identify opportunities for improvement, and ensure
accountability for the services provided.
8. Termination
This Agreement may be terminated by either Party, with or without cause, by providing
thirty (90) days’ written notice to the other Party.
9. Amendment
This Agreement may only be amended in writing and signed by both Parties.
10. Notices
Notices shall be given in writing and deemed to have been given: (i) upon hand delivery;
(ii) the next business day after sending by a nationally recognized overnight carrier with
written confirmation of receipt or (iii) if sent by email, when the recipient acknowledges
having received the email.
11. Entire Agreement
This document constitutes the entire Agreement between the Parties and supersedes any
prior oral or written agreements.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties hereto have executed this Agreement on the dates
shown below.
Mary Greeley Medical Center
By:
Name:
Title:
Date:
Ames Police Department
By:
Name: Geoff Huff
Title: Chief of Police
Date:
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2024 Annual Report
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Rev 1/1/24
The past year saw growth and change within ARCH. During a short period from August to mid -October we were
without a social worker and were unable to be in service as much as usual. We also began to focus in community
outreach in addition to our 911 response, hoping to mitigate crisis earlier. ARCH saw an overall increase in call volume
and involvement in community affairs. In October we participated in a roundtable discussion with notable community
partners to address the issue of homelessness within Ames. This roundtable resulted in further discussions with the
City and the Bridgehome in an effort to reduce the unhoused population in Ames.
*The information provided below are estimates based on data collected 1/1/24 – 12/31/24.
39 mins
2024 ARCH Annual Report
Ca
l
l
T
y
p
e
Number of calls
involving an
ACSD or ISU
student/employee
(that ARCH was aware of) 59 32
Resources Saved
*Other includes medical, domestic/conflict/disorderly, DOA
(dead on arrival), missing person, transportation assist,
someone calling wanting info. on community resources.
calls were addressed with an
ARCH ONLY response; freeing up
other emergency service resources
that would have otherwise possibly
had to respond if ARCH was not in
service
244
Days in service
552
Number of calls the
ARCH team responded to
220
Missed calls are due to ARCH not in
service at the time of call and are tracked
by dispatchers making a note that ARCH
was not in service in the call notes.
Number of “missed” calls
Average time on calls
358
7
Rev 1/1/24
14
25
57
42
36
40
48
42
34
55
32 31 30
22
18
10
2 5 5 1 1 2 5 3
9
13
19 17 19
8 10
16
7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00
ARCH Dispatch Start Times
Number of Calls
Missed
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
CALLS BY DAY OF THE WEEK
2024 2023
8
Rev 1/1/24
Interagency Collaboration
The ARCH Program was developed and launched through a collaborative effort among several
agencies in Ames, including Mary Greeley Medical Center, the City of Ames and Ames Police
Department and Iowa State University Police. ARCH is an innovative program offering an alternative
response to certain 911 calls and relies heavily on interagency collaboration with Police, Fire, EMS,
Hospital and Emergency Dispatch Center. This type of collaboration is unique in that it requires
accommodating several agencies’ distinct regulations, policies, procedures, organizational cultures and
leadership structures.
ARCH Response
Only, 363, 50%
ARCH w/ Police
Response, 167,
23%
Arch w/
Ambulance
Response, 69, 9%
Arch w/ Fire
Response, 45, 6%
ED Visit, 86, 12%
ARCH w/ Mobile
Crisis Response, 1,
0%
Interagency Collaborations
ARCH Response Only ARCH w/ Police Response Arch w/ Ambulance Response
Arch w/ Fire Response ED Visit ARCH w/ Mobile Crisis Response
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Rev 1/1/24
Resources Saved
Resources Saved
Utilizing ARCH allows other emergency response agencies to remain available for calls that require
their specific training, tools/equipment and experience. Resources saved were based on the ARCH
Team’s evaluation of what the call was for, and which response agency would have potentially been
utilized/dispatched in the situation had ARCH not been in service.
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Police Response Avoided Ambulance Response
Avoided
Fire Response Avoided ED Visit Avoided (had
ARCH not been involved,
outcome of call would
have likely been contact
having to go to ED)
327
223
264
51
Resources Saved
10
Rev 1/1/24
Conclusion
ARCH worked through growing pains this year. We identified key areas needed for continued growth
in the community. We have become engaged in some consistent outreach time which includes 1-2
hours/week at the Ames Public Library accompanied by Susan Moore, Social worker from MGMC.
We spend time interacting with many of the unhoused who utilize the library during the day to avoid
the elements. By initiating contact with them prior to end of business day, we have a better chance to
plug them into services they need before they close for the day.
We also welcomed a new Social Worker, Becky Lundy who took over the full time social work position
in Mid-October. Becky brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the team and has already
been an asset to our growth and development.
Increased call volume is worth noting throughout the year. Outside of August and September when
we operated with limited staffing, we have seen trends in a positive direction. Larger call volumes
show that ARCH can be used to reduce call volumes in all traditional areas of Emergency Services.
2024 ARCH Team Members
Becky Lundy, Social Worker Lindsey Smith, Social Worker
April Chavira, Mental Health Professional Rod Jones, Paramedic
Nick Toornstra, Paramedic
Steve Flugrad, Paramedic
Questions or comments regarding this report can be directed to ARCH@MGMC.COM
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