Ambulance board, CARE come to agreement

FAIRFIELD — The Jefferson County Ambulance Service Agency and CARE Ambulance have come to an agreement after meeting with a mediator in late January.

The two sides met with a mediator in Iowa City on Jan. 23 in an attempt to resolve a contract dispute. By the end of the meeting, the two sides had agreed in principal on changes to the contract, which need to be approved by the three entities that comprise the ambulance service agency: Jefferson County Supervisors, City of Fairfield and the Jefferson County Health Center.

The ambulance board agreed to increase its subsidy to CARE Ambulance by $10,000 per month from January through September, when CARE’s three-year contract ends. This money would be split evenly with the three entities, so they would each be contributing $30,000 for the remainder of the contract.

With this additional money, CARE is now able to staff two full-time Advanced Life Services ambulances in Jefferson County. Bob Libby, owner and CEO of CARE, said one of these ambulances will be “in service,” meaning it is at the station ready to respond to a 911 call, while another ambulance will be “on call,” meaning its staff might not be at the station, but they will have 15 minutes to respond to a call.

Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Moulding, one of three attorneys for the ambulance board, said this arrangement complies with the original contract since both ambulances are available 24 hours a day. In December, CARE announced that, due to short staffing, it could only offer one full-time ambulance and another that operated 12 hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. This revelation prompted the ambulance board to issue a temporary injunction against CARE to force it to comply with the contract.

Moulding said this arrangement should allow CARE to transport patients from one hospital to another without sacrificing the safety of Jefferson County residents.

“In the event of a car crash, we need to get those people to a hospital right away,” he said. “But if someone is already at the health center, and they need a higher level of care, they’ll still need an ambulance, but it’s less of an emergency because they’re already under medical supervision. While we do need two ambulances, we need one at the drop of a hat, and another as needed.”

Libby estimated that about 80 percent of CARE’s calls for service in the county are 911 calls. Not all of those require transportation, however. Sometimes CARE responds to the scene of an accident only to learn that the individual is refusing medical care.

Libby said he’s hired a couple of paramedics in the last month.

“We still have some offers out on the table,” Libby said. “We have a lot of people who are part-time, who are helping cover shifts and being on call.”

CARE officials have previously said that unforeseen expenses such as increased insurance premiums and paying for expensive traveling paramedics meant that CARE was losing money in Jefferson County. Libby said that the extra money from the ambulance board wouldn’t necessarily make the company break even, but it would help.

“Staffing is still incredibly difficult,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re in the restaurant business or the lumber business, it’s hard to get staff. I can’t pull somebody off the street. They have to be certified.”

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com