Conference committee reviews bill 2033 to help ‘distressed’ ambulance services

Senator Lee convened a conference committee on bill 2033 to reconcile House and Senate language aimed at identifying and helping ambulance services at risk of closure, committee members said. The draft defines a “distressed ambulance service” as having a substantial likelihood of closure within the next year and would let services self-report and enter a state-assisted planning process.

The bill would require the department to identify stakeholders and schedule an initial public meeting within 45 days after identifying a distressed service. Stakeholders listed in the draft include county and city governments, hospitals and clinics, adjacent ambulance services and other local EMS providers; later language adds law enforcement, school boards, ambulance district boards and a citizen representative. The work group created after the initial meeting would collaborate with the department to produce a detailed emergency…