Below is the full text of a statement from Allen County Commissioners about their intention to seek options for EMS providers.
Feb. 7, 2023
From the Allen County Commission to residents of Allen County:
Allen County WILL have ambulance service come Aug. 1, 2023.
This assurance to our county’s residents may seem unnecessary and somewhat odd, but the Allen County Commission takes its statutory requirement to provide for the health and safety of its residents most seriously. And as the City of Iola, with whom Allen County now contracts to provide personnel and administration of our countywide ambulance service, has notified the County that it will terminate that contract in six months, we commissioners feel it necessary to give this assurance and let residents know we are actively pursuing seamless provision of top-notch ambulance service for their future.
A bit of history might be helpful to put the ambulance situation in perspective.
The county-city ambulance agreement was due for renegotiation in 2020, but since the nation was in the midst of the pandemic, both entities agreed to extend the contract by a year since we had plenty of other things on our agendas. Cost to the county, which has bought the ambulances and much of the equipment in them, per the contract, as well as recently invested in ambulance stations at Humboldt and Moran, was about $1.1 million at the time for the City of Iola to pay personnel to staff the ambulances and administer the service. The first renewal offer from Iola was $1.4 million for the ensuing five years.
