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Private medical transport seeks county authorization to move involuntary psychiatric patients
Summary
Foothills/Cliffhills Medical Transport requested board authority to perform involuntary civil transports under a county resolution so it can contract with hospitals and reduce sheriff transports; board asked for the resolution and legal review before formal action.
A private transport company told the Caldwell County Board of Commissioners on May 12 it seeks county authorization to perform involuntary civil (IBC) transports so hospitals may lawfully contract with the company to move patients.
Tommy Feiten, owner of Cliffhills Medical Transit (presenting as Foothills Medical Transport), said his company has provided similar transports in Burke County since 2017 and that the service reduced the number of involuntary transports done by the sheriff’s office there. Feiten said the company carries insurance and claims “dollars 1,500,000.0 per vehicle, dollars 2,000,000 aggregate per incident” and that it takes “100 percent of the liability.”
Feiten told commissioners state statute requires a sheriff’s office to perform involuntary transports unless the county adopts an alternate approach. He handed commissioners a “plan of action” and said a county resolution giving his company authority would be necessary before hospitals could add an amendment to their contracts to permit private transports. Feiten said hospitals also must amend their contracts before transfers can begin.
Commissioners and staff asked for the formal resolution and plan of action. County staff and the sheriff’s office said they have discussed a possible agreement with the hospital and that the chief deputy planned a meeting with the hospital next week; commissioners asked that Feiten’s materials be provided immediately to the county attorney for review.
Commissioners raised operational questions about response times, Sunday coverage and liability. Feiten said his company runs six days with 24‑hour coverage and a shorter Sunday schedule; when asked about transports arriving after his Sunday service window, Feiten said those would revert to the sheriff’s department or be deferred until Monday. He said typical response times in Burke County have ranged from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on location, and that the company may stage vehicles locally by arrangement with sheriff’s deputies and hospital security.
The board did not vote on a resolution May 12. Commissioners directed Feiten to provide the plan of action and a copy of the Burke County resolution he referenced; county attorneys will review the documents and the board will decide at a future meeting whether to adopt a similar authorization.
