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Greene County ambulance director reports vehicle outages, staffing gains and uncertainty over community paramedic funding
Summary
At a Greene County meeting, the ambulance director outlined current vehicle outages and parts delays, staffing additions of PRN and EMT personnel, rising uniform and certification costs, and unresolved funding for a community paramedic position; the board approved routine minutes and adjourned.
The Greene County ambulance director told county officials that two ambulances were out of service, parts for a third are delayed from Canada, and staffing has improved with new PRN hires and EMT recruits, while the county continues to sort funding and legal details for a community paramedic program and for random drug testing of EMS staff.
The updates were given during a county meeting; the ambulance director reported that “we currently have 2 units that are actually down right now,” and described one unit (identified in the report as Emergency 4) undergoing warranty repairs and another (unit 0069) needing new tires and front tie-rod work that the vendor said was undrivable. A third unit (2986) requires parts sourced from Canada and “they apparently cannot get the parts,” the director said, producing ongoing service constraints.
The director provided operational data for the previous month: “We did a total of 370 calls,” including 49 calls handled by Greene County Rescue. Of the 321 calls handled by Greene County EMS, the director reported 268 transports; Greene County Rescue accounted for 39 transports. The director said 77 calls were transfers.
Why it matters: reduced vehicle availability and delayed parts can degrade response capacity in a largely rural county; staffing decisions, equipment spending and inter-county funding for programs affect how the county maintains service levels.
The director discussed finances and equipment plans. Last month’s income was reported as $144,350.12, compared with “a little over $205,000” at the same time last year; the director said that difference reflected a larger Medicaid reimbursement on last year’s check. The report also named an approximate vehicle price of $98,000 apiece and said the county has budgeted money for new ambulances next year and hopes to pick up a demonstration unit after the new year if scheduling allows.
On staffing, the director said Greene County has hired two PRN paramedics and four new EMTs, and is processing background checks and orientations. One full-time EMT slot is open; the director said it is advertised and there are applicants. PRN staffing rules noted in the discussion require personnel to work at least once every 90 days.
The transfer/transport service also was a focus: the director said the county has been scheduling a transfer truck for dialysis and hospice transports and that the service “is staying pretty busy,” which provides additional staffing hours and revenue opportunities at the BLS level.
The county also discussed the community paramedic position, which had originally been funded across multiple counties. The director said other counties are no longer contributing and Greene County must decide whether to continue absorbing the cost. The director reported that the community paramedic claims to have documented more than $1 million in savings to local partners last year but that he has not yet seen the supporting analysis and asked for that cost-savings documentation before a final decision is made.
Policy and compliance issues were raised. County staff reported work to add random drug testing for EMS employees, including testing that would detect fentanyl. Staff said they are coordinating with hospital legal counsel to expand the county’s occupational health services agreement to include urine screening and an evidentiary verification process (which may include a confirmatory blood draw) and to obtain pricing. Officials noted that some local testing providers are not Department of Transportation–certified for CDL testing, which affects where certain tests can be run.
Separately, staff flagged an expiring CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) certification used for point-of-care tests (blood glucose and similar). The director said the CLIA certificate expires in October and needs renewal to maintain billing and regulatory compliance with Medicaid and Medicare.
Board business: the board approved the minutes of its Aug. 19 meeting (motion made and seconded; vote recorded as in favor) and later moved to adjourn (motion made and seconded; vote recorded as in favor).
