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Jefferson County supervisors press hospital for share of ambulance transfer costs
Summary
Supervisors reviewed six months of transfer data, saying 178–179 trips generated about $290,000 in charges with roughly $120,000–$124,000 collected and unpaid balances. They asked the hospital’s CEO for one of four responses — including paying per transfer or $100,000 a year — and agreed to send a jointly signed letter.
Jefferson County supervisors spent the bulk of a regular meeting debating how to address repeated ambulance transfers the county says the local hospital expects it to perform without fairly sharing costs.
Supervisors and ambulance staff reviewed billing spreadsheets showing roughly 178–179 transfers over six months that generated an estimated $290,000 in billed charges, of which about $120,000–$124,000 was collected, leaving roughly $162,000 outstanding, according to staff summaries circulated to the board. Speaker 6 told colleagues the county recorded 48 transfers in the first six months that were completely unpaid.
Why it matters: Supervisors said the county operates two staffed ambulances around the clock to be available for both 911 calls and hospital transfers. They argued that a pattern of late‑night and reportedly low‑acuity transfers pushes staffing and overtime costs onto the county, and that…
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