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Morrow County creates ambulance advisory committee and advances ASA contract talks
Summary
The Board approved forming an ambulance‑service advisory committee with specified provider, hospital and fire‑district seats and heard an update on intergovernmental agreements assigning Southern and Northeast service areas to Morrow County Health District; commissioners probed subsidy language, renewal mechanics and noninterference clauses.
The Morrow County Board of Commissioners voted to authorize formation of an ambulance‑service advisory committee that will monitor provider response times and review provider performance quarterly.
County staff described the proposed committee composition as two county representatives (including the county public health director, Robin Kennedy, as chair), a 911 dispatch representative, hospital designees (Paul Martin for Pioneer Memorial Hospital and Judy Gabriel for Good Shepherd Healthcare), provider representatives once agreements are finalized, and five first‑responder seats filled by local fire districts. The board approved the motion to establish the committee and to appoint the five fire‑district representatives named in staff’s recommendation.
The discussion also included an update on efforts to assign the Southern and Northeast ambulance service areas (ASAs) to Morrow County Health District under an intergovernmental agreement. Staff said attorneys had reviewed indemnification language and that the health district planned to take the draft IGA to its board; county staff described the IGA as close to final but not ready for signature. Commissioners asked detailed questions about the contract’s financial clauses, including a line item described in the packet as an annual maximum administrative overhead subsidy (discussed in the meeting as $425,000 annually) and how quarterly payments and CPI adjustments are handled. Staff explained that the figure is an annual maximum paid quarterly in advance with an annual true‑up and that the advisory committee would review proposals if an alternative provider surfaced before renewal deadlines.
Commissioners also sought clarity on a “noninterference” clause that staff said does not lock the county into a single provider if circumstances change; the IGA would require 90 days’ notice before the term expires and allow other interested providers to present proposals to the advisory committee and the board. Staff said they would return the finalized IGA and any requested technical edits for formal board approval and signature.
The board’s action lays the governance groundwork for monitoring response times and managing future provider transitions while staff finishes legal review and finalizes paperwork.
