Warrick County health staff propose five‑year community paramedic program to cut EMS calls and readmissions

Warrick County health officials outlined a proposed community paramedic, mobile integrated health (MIH) program they want to fund for five years through a grant‑style contract and then transition to local EMS ownership.

Doctor Kari, the county health officer, said the role is intended to give paramedics latitude to perform home safety evaluations, conduct hospital follow-ups to reduce readmissions (particularly for congestive heart failure patients), provide CPR/AED and injury-prevention outreach, and support first‑responder mental health. “I didn’t want to pigeonhole the paramedic into having to do certain things, but keep it broad and nice open so that they had lots of room to grow and do things,” Doctor Kari said.

Staff described benchmarks the contractor would report annually—numbers enrolled, visits completed and event outreach—and proposed a mix of clinical follow-ups and community‑based services (car‑seat checks, safe‑sleep education and stop‑the‑bleed training). Hospitals and social‑work teams would be referral sources; staff reported existing interest from neighboring counties and hospitals to provide training and mentoring.

Staff said the funding approach is to use a five‑year installment model so the program can start without annual contract renewals. A co‑op account currently held by the county could be a funding source; staff also said the program will require County Council approval. As one board member put it, the next key step will be “selling it to them” at the council meeting in January.

An Ascension representative said they have drafted a budget and that current employees have expressed interest in the role; that speaker also recused themselves from voting because of their involvement in directing EMS services.

The health board discussed operational details—work week (40 hours), whether evening shifts should be offered, vehicle procurement or mileage reimbursement, and the expectation that the hired paramedic obtain community‑paramedic certification within two years. Staff proposed using cooperative funds to cover start‑up costs and suggested presenting comparative outcome data from existing programs to the County Council to strengthen the funding request.

Next steps identified by the board: finalize contract language and benchmarks, secure legal review, prepare a county‑council presentation for January and return with a budget and data points showing the program’s likely impact and costs.