county. They noted residents were ….

county. They noted residents were more focused on making sure they were covered rather than the cost.

Committee members also took the time to review options presented by Aspirus with ambulance director Bob Kirkley. Prior to last week’s meeting, the decision was made to eliminate two of the original six options specifically one about full time crews working night shifts rather than days, and the option to only have a station in Medford covering the entire county.

Committee members asked about the option to have full-time staff at all three bases which would require 25.2 FTE positions and have cost of about $2.2 million. Kirkley noted this would be the best option from a coverage standpoint and that it would be up to Aspirus to get the shifts filled with the county’s cost capped at that amount.

“I have a lot of questions,”said committee member Lorie Floyd.

She questioned the price for the first option, which is the same as what is currently in place in the county. The cost of that plan is $1.2 million. In the past, the county and Aspirus split the cost with the county only paying 45% of the cost. Under the new contract the 45% split is off the table as an option.

Floyd questioned if reimbursements from insurance for patient transports affected the $1.2 million amount or if it would be lowered.

Kirkley explained that Aspirus is handling all the billing and that for example, with Medicare they are getting reimbursed about 35 cents on the dollar. He said they don’t know what the Medicare reimbursement for next year will be and the projected cost was developed using current run volumes and reimbursement levels. He explained that the price included expenses above the revenues projected to come in. “What is the point of this?” asked county executive committee member Mike Bub, of the questions being asked Kirkley, noting that it was the same discussion the county has had numerous times.

Floyd said she spoke with representatives from Oneida County and was told their contract with Aspirus is $2.2 million with six more full time staff in that county than is projected to cover Taylor County under the fulltime at all stations proposal.

“Their run volume offsets their expenses,” Kirkley explained. Oneida County has a population of about 38,000 people compared to Taylor County’s approximately 20,000 residents.

Kirkley noted the average run volume in Gilman was 12 calls versus stations in Oneida County seeing 60 to 90 calls during the same time period. “Your revenue is not offsetting costs at the slow bases,” he said.

There were also questions about usage of the coverage contracts with neighboring services. Kirkley said they still use the contracts, but that the other areas have their own places to cover and that if they are used too much to cover Taylor County they run the risk of the other services canceling the contracts. “They should be utilized in a last ditch effort,” he said.

Questions were raised about having first responders or other emergency responders assist in driving ambulances or assisting to make a full crew needed for transporting a patient.

Kirkley said as long as they were on the ambulance roster they could do this, but they would still have to follow the training. It was suggested this could be done under mutual aid agreements.

It was noted that the discussion right now was for a staffing contract versus a mutual aid agreement.

Kirkley emphasized that Aspirus currently does not charge the county for any of Aspirus’ billing practices. He said if the county were to take over full operations of the ambulance service, like has been suggested by some, this would be an additional cost to the county above what is in the contracts.

Floyd asked about the plan that would provide full time coverage in Gilman and Rib Lake and have the inter-facility transport (IFT) crew covering 9-1-1 calls in the Medford area. Kirkley explained that under this option, IFT crews from Medford would be taken out of the pool to do long distance transports except in critical situations and would instead focus on covering the 9-1-1 calls and emergency transports out of Medford.

If they were called out of the area, crews from another area would be mobilized to cover that community.

Following the questions, committee members went into closed session to discuss negotiation strategies. No formal action came out of the closed session.

The current contract is set to end on November 29. On September 1, Aspirus exercised the 90-day notice clause in the contract to terminate the existing agreement.

In other business committee members received word from sheriff Larry Woebbeking that a steamer in the jail kitchen went out and will need to be replaced at a cost of $25,000. “It is one of those things you have to replace,” he said, noting that it was purchased as part of the jail project and is more than 20 years old. He said they found one in Wausau and placed the order for it to arrive. He said it was within budget parameters to replace.

Lorie Floyd

Chief Deputy Corey Dassow presented years of service recognitions to deputy Liza Barth (above, left) and Detective Chad Kowalczyk (above, right) during Friday’s Law Enforcement and Emergency Services committee meeting. Barth currently is the senior most road deputy in the Taylor County Sheriff’s Department.BRIAN WILSON/THE STAR NEWS