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Columbia County OKs one-year Gold Cross EMS contract with larger subsidy, additional ambulances and reporting requirements
Summary
The Board approved a one-year agreement with Gold Cross to increase the county subsidy to $1,543,750 annually, add a 24-hour ALS ambulance and a part-time BLS unit, reduce QRVs, and maintain staffing and reporting expectations tracked by the county’s EMS dashboard.
The Columbia County Board of Commissioners approved a one-year contract with Gold Cross for ambulance services that raises the county subsidy to $1,543,750 annually, increases ambulance coverage and sets monitoring requirements for staffing and reporting.
County staff presented the agreement as a replacement for the existing contract. Staff said the new subsidy increases from $850,000 to $1,543,750 per year and that the contract will be effective June 1. The contract adds an additional 24-hour Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulance, which staff said will bring the county total to eight ALS ambulances, and adds a Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulance for 12 hours a day, Monday through Friday. Staff also said the county will reduce Quick Response Vehicles (QRVs) from three to one and will adjust billing limits for insured patients.
Staff and the contract text cited staffing and operational performance requirements as the key performance indicators (KPIs). The county’s stated KPI is to maintain the specified number of ambulances and staffing on duty 24/7; staff said they have removed fixed response-time requirements from the contract but continue to monitor traditional urban and rural response-time targets via the county’s EMS dashboard. Staff reported that Gold Cross has met the county’s monitored turnaround metrics more than 90% of the time and that the county requires reporting when response times exceed 30 minutes.
Commissioners asked about how KPIs and staffing would be measured and whether Gold Cross could sustain the specified staffing levels. The county presenter said the staffing question is better answered by Gold Cross. An unidentified Gold Cross representative told commissioners that the company had discussed staffing challenges but remained confident it could meet the contract’s requirements.
The contract was moved and seconded and approved in the meeting transcript; the public record provided did not include a roll-call tally in the excerpt. Staff said the first month’s subsidy will be covered by current fiscal-year EMS budget savings and that the FY26 budget includes the ongoing subsidy amount.
The county staff indicated quarterly checks of turnaround metrics and continued dashboard monitoring. The contract duration discussed in the meeting was one year; staff recommended approval.
