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Martin County fire chief urges renegotiation of Stuart interlocal agreement after maternity transfer incidents
Summary
Martin County Fire Rescue Chief Chad Chancholy told commissioners the county's 2020 fee-based interlocal agreement with the City of Stuart created an operational imbalance and described multiple recent cases in which Stuart units declined or delayed care for laboring OB patients; the board unanimously directed chiefs to meet and consider a transport protocol to prioritize patient safety.
Chief Chad Chancholy of Martin County Fire Rescue told the board that the county's fee-based interlocal agreement with the City of Stuart, adopted in 2020, was intended to protect public safety but has produced an imbalance in mutual-aid responses. He said Martin County units were handling an outsized share of Stuart's 9-1-1 calls and described a series of incidents in which Stuart responders did not assume care for laboring obstetric patients, delaying transfers to facilities with obstetrical and neonatal capabilities.
"This agreement was public safety forward, but that's not exactly what happened," Chancholy said, recounting four cases dating from April 2025…
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