County Council approves $197,000 in Operation Life funding
More than a year after the accident that took it out of commission, a Putnam County Operation Life Ambulance will finally be back in service in December or January.
Additionally, the Greencastle-based non-profit ambulance service will also get the money needed to fund a third crew through the end of the year.
The Putnam County Council made final approval of the two expenditures, which total $197,000, during its regular June meeting on Tuesday. Both will be appropriated from the Hazardous Waste Fund.
The $60,000 to fix the ambulance, which was also approved by the Putnam County Commissioners on Monday, is in addition to $83,000 of insurance money Operation Life collected after a November 2016 crash in which an OL ambulance T-boned a Putnam County Sheriff’s Department SUV at U.S. 231 and Veterans Highway on Greencastle’s South End.
The chassis of the vehicle was totaled in that wreck, but the box was salvaged. The $143,000 will go to a new chassis and mounting the box on the new truck. For now, the box is sitting in an Indianapolis shop, awaiting funding.
“We have a wrecked ambulance sitting there that, theoretically, the county owns,” Commissioner Rick Woodall said. “And that would give us three ambulances.”
The ambulance service actually currently has four ambulances, however, two of them are high-mileage and ideally used only as back-up.
Operation Life Executive Director E.J. Claflin told the commissioners with an order placed now, the ambulance will still not be in commission until December or January.
It does, however, give OL hope on the horizon of actually having “a viable, remounted ambulance,” that, in Claflin’s words, “gives us three top-line ambulances.”
In making the motion for passage, Commissioner David Berry also expressed his desire to get a piece of county property back on the road.
“I want to to put it in service. We own the ambulance,” Berry said. “I want it back on the road.”
Woodall seconded the motion, making it a 2-0 vote. Commissioner Don Walton was absent on Monday.
The commissioners already approved the $137,000 for staffing last month, but both questions were before the council.
The vehicle issue passed the council without opposition and with limited discussion.
The council had much more to say about the staffing issue, as it underscores questions about the longterm financial viability of Operation Life.
While the money will give the service the ability to fund a third full-time crew through the end of the year, what happens after Jan. 1?
“It’s probably time to fund EMS on a regular basis,” Claflin told the council, “rather than showing up time after time after time to say, ‘I need this.’”
Currently the county gives Operation Life $80,000 annually from Hazardous Waste, besides other expenditures that may arise.
Claflin explained that a relatively small contribution from the county worked at one time but inflation and, more importantly, reduced compensation on runs have made it difficult, if not impossible, to break even.
“The amount of reimbursement for ambulance service is less than it costs to run calls,” Claflin said.
He explained that the biggest funding source for EMS has traditionally been the federal government, through Medicare and Medicaid.
When the government reduced compensation to medical providers from Medicare and Medicaid, it greatly changed the model. Operation Life last broke even in 2010.
“We’ve run through all our resources and that’s how we’ve gotten to where we are today,” Claflin said.
Council attorney Trudy Selvia explained that the problem is not unique to EMS services.
“We used to have a small drugstore here on the square,” Selvia said, “and about the time we sold is the time (Operation Life) started losing money.”
Having examined several years of financial information on OL, Councilman Dave Fuhrman questioned why the service has even lasted as long as it has with the money that has been lost.
“You can throw money at a bad business, but after 2013 (Operation Life) should have gone away,” Fuhrman said.
Shortly before passage, Councilman Keith Berry asked Claflin the question that goes well beyond the $137,000 band-aid.
“Long term, what do you think the answer is?” Berry asked.
“A funding source that isn’t the landfill,” Claflin said.
“It’s going to take more than $80,000 to support an ambulance service,” Commissioner Rick Woodall added. Woodall is also the Commissioners’ member of the OL Board.
Auditor Laurie Hallett added that she has talked to other auditors around the state, and even with approving nearly $200,000 in additional funds on Tuesday, Putnam County is getting off relatively easy compared to other counties.
With Phil Gick making the motion, the $137,000 expenditure passed by a 5-1 vote, with Gick, Berry, Larry Parker, Jill Bridgewater and Gene Beck voting affirmatively. Fuhrman cast the lone dissenting vote, while Darrel Thomas did not vote, as is commonly his practice as Council president.
The ongoing funding issue will be back before both the council and commissioners before year’s end. The council will have to deal with it during budget hearings in September, while the commissioners will have to consider bids for EMS bids before January.
In addition to Operation Life, STAR Ambulance may also bid on providing emergency 911 service to the county.