Portage council hears that new ambulance service has increased call volume; billing and collections discussed

Portage council members pressed the fire chief about ambulance workload, mutual-aid use and the status of billing after the city changed ambulance providers.

Alderperson Green congratulated the police chief and assistant chief, then asked several questions of the fire chief about ambulance operations under the new service. The chief said the department has seen days with three, four and even five ambulances out; the department had recorded about 380 calls so far for the year. The chief said the service is averaging just short of nine calls a day versus about six or seven per day previously under Aspirus.

On mutual aid, the chief said the city had requested outside assistance “one time” for a major highway accident and had called other agencies once or twice with mixed response. The chief said a fourth dedicated ambulance would be an option in 2027–28 if funding is available; a supplier indicated a unit could be secured then.

The chief said billing work is underway: about 215 runs are currently out for billing review and roughly 91 have been sent to collections. The city’s third‑party billing vendor was expected to begin returning payments in roughly 60 days, with an expectation of seeing collections in April.

Council members also asked about staffing and federal verification steps. The chief said the department was fully staffed, and that Medicare auditors recently completed surprise visits, photographing vehicles, the station and rosters while verifying compliance.

The discussion was informational; no formal action was taken on EMS operations during the meeting.