Stephens County Commission, Hospital Authority Discuss EMS Contract

Stephens County Hospital officials and Stephens County Commissioners are beginning discussions to renew the contract for ambulance services in Stephens County.

The two boards held an initial meeting Monday at Stephens County Hospital.

The contract currently in place runs out on June 30. Under that contract, Stephens County Hospital operates the county’s EMS service, with the two sides each responsible for certain expenses.

Stephens County Hospital Administrator Ed Gambrell said the current contract has performed fairly well, until recently, when overages occurred in fuel costs and repairs and the two sides debated who was responsible for payment.

Commission Chairman Harold Andrews agreed that particular point has created confusion.

“For instance in the gasoline prices when they were so high, they encountered heavy cost,” said Andrews. “The old contract specified an amount. We stuck with the contractual amount. They, of course, would like to have us pay the larger amount.”

In section 6 of the current contract, it states that “the county will pay and/or provide the following with respect to the Stephens County Emergency Medical Services.” It goes on to state in point 3 that includes “items budgeted from the County General Fund for the following and with the County’s minimum annual allocation as indicated below: ambulance maintenance and upkeep, ambulance fuel and tires, and ambulance motor vehicle insurance.”

The agreement has annual amounts by those three items, of $25,000 for maintenance, $15,200 for fuel and tires, and $32,540 for insurance. In recent years, both fuel and maintenance have gone over those amounts.

After reviewing the current contract, Gambrell presented the Hospital Authority’s proposal, which is to maintain the current contract for another five years, but eliminate those yearly allocations.

“We experience many times overages in budget accounts, but that is just part of business, so we feel the county should not have caps in the contract, so that we have to absorb whenever they go over a budgeted item, and hopefully that will agree with that,” said Gambrell.

Gambrell went on to say that the hospital has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into EMS to make up for expenses that have gone beyond revenues.

“The hospital, in 2008, lost a little bit over $300,000 running the EMS for the county,” said Gambrell. “We knew we were going to lose some of that money. It is just part of doing business and the hospital is glad to do what they can to help provide a first-class EMS to Stephens County, and we expect the county to put in money and they have in the past.”

County Commissioners said they are concerned about tight budget times ahead. Andrews indicated a desire to negotiate the contract, which hospital officials said they are willing to do.

Andrews said the commission will now debate the hospital’s proposal to them.

“We discuss it, try to educate ourselves as to the best service for the least cost for the county, whatever that might be,” he explained. “We have high hopes that we can settle it and the hospital can continue managing it as they have in the past, because we are receiving good service.”

Gambrell also said he is confident the two sides will reach an agreement.

Stephens County Hospital has operated the EMS service since 1969. The current agreement, set to expire, was reached in 2004 and marked the first time the two boards signed a multi-year agreement on EMS operation. Prior to that, the agreements were renewed yearly.