Council committee clears release of second $1 million to 3 Rivers Ambulance Authority

The finance committee voted to give a due-pass recommendation for a resolution (R250125) to release the second $1,000,000 installment of a three-year, $3 million funding agreement with 3 Rivers Ambulance Authority.

Joel Benz, executive director of 3 Rivers Ambulance Authority, told council the agency has used prior funding to invest in onboarding and human resources, retention bonuses, vehicle refreshes and operational changes that have reduced staff turnover and improved compliance. “We’ve managed to reduce our turnover 80% by implementing a number of these things,” Benz said, and described programs the organization started or expanded: an Earn-While-You-Learn EMT pipeline (now partnered with Ivy Tech), a retention-bonus program, outside temporary staffing to ease workload, upgraded dispatch and CAD capabilities, and a whole-blood protocol for early transfusion in traumatic bleeding.

Benz presented operational metrics showing increasing monthly transports and unit hours and said January was the busiest month on record. He said dispatch and CAD upgrades will improve coordination with local hospitals and that a new phone-and-radio integration will create a more efficient workflow for dispatchers.

Benz also summarized financial changes: a recent state reimbursement change that set statewide insurance rates at 400% of Medicare and an assignment-of-benefits change that will allow ambulance providers to be paid directly by insurers. He said those adjustments, along with other changes, allowed the authority to present a balanced 2025 budget to its board; that budget did not depend on city funds.

Council members asked about staffing levels, use of the previous $1,000,000, ambulance and SUV resources, and the new blood protocol. Benz said the authority aims for about 82 full-time employees (it had roughly 75 at the time of the meeting) and that it is using restricted funds and some outstanding reserves for liabilities and replenishment. He said the authority had spent the first tranche on retention bonuses, capital needs and temporary staffing and that not all of the second million would necessarily be spent immediately.

After discussion, the committee voted 9-0 to recommend release of the second $1,000,000 tranche. The recommendation will be forwarded to the full council as part of the ordinance/resolution process for final approval.