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Commissioners discuss pilot partnership with Cruising Care to provide nonemergency patient transport
Summary
County EMS leaders and Cruising Care representatives discussed a proposed partnership to provide medically equipped nonemergency transport for patients without other options; commissioners asked for budget guidance and suggested a small trial allocation.
County EMS and community-resource personnel presented a proposal to partner with Cruising Care (represented at the meeting by David and Nicole Baskett) to provide medically equipped nonemergency transportation for patients who lack other options for attending medical appointments.
The program would be used after EMS personnel exhaust other transport options and is intended to prevent avoidable emergency-room visits by moving patients to urgent care or scheduled appointments in medically equipped vehicles. The meeting packet included a fee schedule: local in-city round trips were listed at $100, Erath County round trips at $150, and a protocol approved by the county medical director, Dr. Moore. County staff emphasized that the service would be used for established patients or when no other transportation exists; ambulance crews and paramedics would retain discretion in each case.
Commissioners raised concerns about program eligibility and potential misuse. Commissioner(s) asked for clearer written guidelines on eligibility and suggested a trial allocation from an EMS budget line—examples discussed included assigning a modest pilot fund (e.g., $2,000) to run the program and review usage before more formal approval. No formal action or funding appropriation was taken; staff were directed to review the EMS budget line and return with a formal proposal.
