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EMS reports higher call volume, new ambulances and Medicaid supplemental payments
Summary
Marquette County EMS saw a 7.6% increase in calls in 2025, added a second new ambulance and reported $136,000 received from Wisconsin’s Medicaid supplemental payment program, with about $100,000 more expected for 2025.
Rob Bowling, chief of Marquette County EMS, told supervisors the service handled 1,922 calls in 2025, a 7.6% increase from 2024, and put a second new ambulance into service in Westfield as part of a planned fleet‑replacement program covering four ambulances over eight years.
Bowling said EMS participated in the Wisconsin Medicaid supplemental payment program and received $136,000 for 2023–24; he said a desk review is underway for 2025 and the service is expecting roughly $100,000. He highlighted grant support for equipment, noting a 2024 grant of $48,000 that funded five ventilators now deployed across the fleet, and an unallocated state capital grant of $56,500 designated for future capital purchases.
On finance, Bowling reported ambulance fee collections of roughly $1.358 million with a collection rate near 42%; payer mix included about 49% Medicare, 20% commercial insurance, 15% Medicaid and 16% private‑pay or uninsured. Operational metrics included a median 88‑second 'out the door' time and six cardiac‑arrest patients successfully resuscitated in 2025.
Bowling said the service is fully staffed following recent raises and hires, and he described mutual‑aid arrangements used when multiple ambulances are simultaneously engaged.
