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Sunnyside council approves waiver of out‑of‑pocket ambulance fees for city residents
Summary
The Sunnyside City Council adopted a resolution directing the city to waive out‑of‑pocket ambulance transport fees for residents within Sunnyside city limits, effective April 1; staff said residency will be validated using hospital intake records and GIS, and council asked staff to tighten proof‑of‑residency procedures in a policy to follow.
The Sunnyside City Council adopted a resolution on March 23 to waive out‑of‑pocket ambulance transport fees for residents of the city, a change staff said will take effect April 1.
Fire and EMS leadership presented the resolution as an implementation step following a recent ambulance utility rate adjustment. "As one of our plans to implement, as a result of that utility rate change, [this] will alleviate out‑of‑pocket costs for ambulance transports for Sunnyside residents," the fire/EMS representative told the council. Staff said the practice will be reflected in a departmental billing policy for the ambulance biller to follow.
Council members asked how the city will determine who qualifies. "We go by ... if the patient has a medical complaint, then that is ... a necessary transport," the chief said, noting hospital intake (the hospital "face sheet") and the city's GIS will be used to confirm whether the patient’s primary residence is inside Sunnyside city limits. Staff said the hospital face sheet is legally required and generally contains addresses drawn from patient insurance or other intake sources.
Several council members pushed for clearer, mandatory residency‑verification language. One councilor said the draft resolution uses "may" for proof‑of‑residency steps and asked that the council make the requirement stronger in policy. Staff responded that the resolution creates the exception to city code and that a draft operational policy (included in the agenda packet) will spell out specific proof requirements; staff said changes requested by council can be incorporated into that policy and applied by the ambulance biller before April 1.
Council also discussed exclusions in the resolution for "non‑medically necessary" transports (for example, an ambulance used as a free ride to a pharmacy). Staff said medics will assess patients and that the policy will describe how those cases are treated; staff emphasized medics will not deny transport when an assessment supports medical need.
The council approved the resolution on roll call. The resolution directs the Sunnyside Fire Department, in coordination with its ambulance billing provider, to adopt procedures for identifying eligible residents and administering the waiver; staff also committed to drafting policy language clarifying proof‑of‑residency criteria and operational exceptions.
