Lee County board advances emergency medical services aid, requires financial records from local providers

Chair (speaker identified in meeting roster as Chair) and county officials spent the bulk of the July 24 recess meeting debating how to keep volunteer and small paid ambulance agencies solvent while balancing countywide coverage.

The discussion opened with a review of recent disbursements and the county's EMS reserve. A board member noted the county had set aside funds for EMS and that some agencies already received $20,000 advances; one agency had received an additional $5,000. Agency leaders told the board their operations range from roughly 2–3 calls a month to several hundred, and board members warned the county cannot afford subsidizing full 24/7 coverage for every agency.

Board members and EMS agency representatives disagreed about approaches. Proposals included limiting 24/7 supplemental pay to a capped number of agencies, rotating coverage among agencies to reduce the number of full-time paid shifts, and dividing the county into service territories so calls and revenue are spread more evenly. One board member described a map-based split (Thomas Walker and Jonesville covering one half; Dryden and Saint Charles the other; Keoki covering its area) intended to reduce deadheading and even call volume.

Several agency leaders and board members emphasized practical constraints. An agency representative said staffing shortages and low call volume make hiring full crews difficult: “I volunteer a lot of time — this past two weeks I volunteered 60 hours,” the speaker said when explaining local staffing practices. Another agency representative warned that moving calls without clear staffing could increase response times: “If you're waiting 20 minutes, the patient might die,” they said.

To avoid immediate closures, the board approved a set of interim funding measures. The board voted to disburse previously allotted $20,000 payments to three agencies that had not yet received them (motion carried with an abstention recorded). The board also approved fronting Saint Charles and Thomas Walker $15,000 each on the condition those agencies deliver six months of financial records to the county administrator by the following Wednesday; the motion carried after a roll-call including a remote member who confirmed assent.

Board members also asked staff to analyze collections and billing recovery rates and recommended a short trial period to test whether the proposed territory split and adjusted dispatch practice would better equalize runs and reimbursements; members noted reimbursement timing (often 60 days) will delay clear results. Several members urged transparency: financial reports from agencies will be reviewed before any further supplemental funding is approved.

The board framed its action as a short-term effort to keep agencies operating while staff and agencies plan for longer-term solutions such as improved dispatch coordination, voluntary/resource sharing, or consolidation of administrative functions.

Next procedural steps: agencies receiving conditional fronting must deliver six months of financials to the county administrator by the stated deadline; staff will meet with dispatch and agency leaders to refine territory boundaries and report back at the next monthly meeting in August.