County, hospital district and commissioners begin planning discussion on future EMS funding and district options

County commissioners and hospital-district leadership opened a planning discussion Oct. 21, 2025, about long-term funding for emergency medical services (EMS) ahead of the current contract’s June 30, 2027 expiration.

Bailey, CEO of the Castle Rock Hospital District (the district that currently operates ambulance services for Rock Springs and Green River), told the board combining ambulance coverage three years ago has improved efficiency and reduced overhead; the district anticipates costs of about $1.3 million next year but noted the current contract with the county has a cap of $1.8 million. Bailey told commissioners that under Wyoming law no entity is statutorily required to provide or fund ambulance service — an important distinction from fire protection — so funding mechanisms are a policy choice.

Commissioners discussed options including continuing the county contract with Castle Rock Hospital District, negotiating a different intergovernmental or joint-powers arrangement, seeking state funding from a proposed “behavioral health/health transformation” pool (sometimes termed the “big health fund” during the meeting) or creating a separate EMS district that could propose a mill levy. Commissioner Richards argued the county cannot reliably fund EMS indefinitely from general revenues given recent property-tax reductions and budget pressures and suggested a countywide EMS district placed before voters as a more sustainable financing option. Other commissioners expressed concern about creating new taxation without extensive stakeholder input and recommended broader conversations with the cities, hospitals, industry and other affected parties.

Commissioners requested follow-up work to define options, costs, governance, and ballot/timing implications; no formal action was taken at the Oct. 21 meeting.

Key figures discussed: the county’s contract cap is $1,800,000; recent budgets have included appropriations of $1.8M, $1.6M and $1.55M in the last three years; district staff anticipate next-year costs near $1.3M under current operations.

Next steps identified at the meeting include continued outreach to the City of Rock Springs, City of Green River and Castle Rock Hospital District and consideration of a task force or working group to evaluate district formation, potential mill rates, and impacts on residents and businesses.