County Council to consider OL expenditures in August
Having already appealed to the county commissioners this month, Putnam County Operation Life Executive Director Eric Claflin went before the county's fiscal body on Tuesday with the unenviable task of requesting more than $280,000 in funding.
The local ambulance service will have to wait another month to find out the status of the request, as additional appropriations will have to be advertised before the Putnam County Council can fully address the requests.
At issue is the need for updated ambulances and as well as proper technology to keep up with new 911 dispatch software in Putnam County.
Claflin reported that the Operation Life (OL) fleet is rapidly aging, with ambulances ranging from three to 15 years old and half the fleet with more than 240,000 miles.
OL is on pace to spend more than $30,000 on repairs this year, Claflin said, noting that every ambulance has been out of service for a major repair at some point in 2016.
As such, he is hoping to purchase a pair of new chassis and have boxes from two of his old ambulances remounted on them. While the $273,204 combined price tag seems steep, Claflin previously told the Putnam County Commissioners that remounting the boxes would save about $44,000 per vehicle.
Additionally, OL is requesting $10,500 for equipment to keep pace with the new dispatch system. While OL has invested more than $3,000 to get as up-to-date as possible, further equipment is needed.
The funds would purchase three refurbished Panasonic Toughbook notebook computers, upgrade an additional Toughbook and purchase three refurbished Dell Rugged Tablets.
Claflin said the cost savings of refurbished equipment outweighs any benefits to buying new.
"There is no advantage to us buying new hardware," Claflin said.
Consideration of the matter will be back on the August agenda, but perhaps not without its challenges from the council. Although OL is largely funded by the county, it is an independent non-profit organization.
Claflin went to great lengths to explain the difficulty that modern emergency medical services have in remaining solvent, considering the low financial return on all the Medicare and Medicaid runs they make.
For the council, consideration is further complicated by considering the amount of money in the Hazardous Waste Fund, from which the money is being requested.
The matter will be considered when the council next convenes at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 16.