Ambulance district expands service


Times photo / Bruce Roberts Ozark County Ambulance has recently expanded its service, and in addition to its single 24/7 vehicle and crew, it also has a second vehicle and crew available from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday-Tuesday. Two of the ambulance crews are pictured here with ambulance district administrator Stacy Raney, right. Crew members are, from left, Tracy Meal, John Keller, Susan Howard, Dustin Warren and Aaron Bellcock. All those pictured are emergency medical technicians except paramedics Keller and Raney.

Ozark County Ambulance has expanded its service and now, in addition to its single vehicle and crew available 24/7, a second vehicle and crew will also be available for six 13-hour shifts each week. 

The double-crew shifts will work from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday-Tuesday, said Ozark County Ambulance District administrator Stacy Raney. The days and times both  shifts will work are based on when the most ambulance calls have come in during the past few months, Raney said. Wednesdays, he said, are traditionally the slowest days for the ambulance service, but the schedule can be changed as needed.

This expansion has evolved over the last few months. At first, the second crew and vehicle worked only two 12-hour shifts each week. Later, that became four 10-hour shifts.  At its  Sept. 12 meeting, the district board vote to expand the second crew’s service to the six 13-hour shifts every week. Eventually, the schedule may be expanded again to employ the second crew and vehicle even more hours, Raney said.

He noted that the newly expanded service has already paid for itself by letting Ozark County Ambulance answer calls it previously would have had to refer to adjoining counties’ ambulance services when Ozark County’s only vehicle and crew were already answering a call. The number of missed calls varied, Raney said. In February, as many as 13-14 calls had to be handled by other counties’ ambulance services when Ozark County’s single vehicle and crew were answering other calls, he said. As the county’s service expanded, the number of missed calls declined. In August, when a second ambulance was available during four 10-hour shifts per week, only one call was missed. It’s hoped that the additional hours for the second vehicle and crew will keep the number of missed calls low.

Raney said besides providing improved service to the county, the second ambulance and crew have brought in enough revenue so that the expanded service has paid for itself. 

And that additional revenue is not the only improvement in the district’s financial situation. Raney said a new billing company is providing more timely and productive billing practices, which are also bringing in a better revenue stream. In the past, the district’s collectibles have soared to as high as $500,000 when those who had been provided service did not pay.

The tax-supported Ozark County Ambulance District was established by voters in 1983. For a while, it comprised two full-time vehicles and crews. Then, in the late 1990s, new Medicare regulations caused changes, and at the same time some ambulance districts’ boundaries changed. As a result, Ozark County had to reduce its service to one full-time vehicle and crew. For a while, the service was affiliated with Ozarks Medical Center in West Plains. But for the last several years it’s been completely independent, supported by taxes and service fees. In the past, it was supported by a half-cent sales tax and a property tax levy that was linked to a roll-back of property taxes.

Last year voters authorized the ambulance board to set a maximum property tax levy as high as .28 per $100 assessed valuation. However, the district board this year set the levy far lower – at .1850 per $100 assessed valuation, Raney said. The ambulance district is also still supported by the half-cent sales tax. 

Ozark County Times

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