Ambulance district expands two-crew service to 7 days/week

The Ozark County Ambulance District now has two ambulances and crews available seven days a week to respond to medical calls. While one ambulance and crew are available 24/7, a second vehicle and crew are now available from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day of the week.

Since mid-September, the ambulance district has provided a second vehicle and crew for 13 hours daily from Thursday through Tuesday. Now the second crew is working on Wednesdays also, ambulance district administrator Stacy Raney said recently.

The expanded service, which has evolved over several months, is part of the district’s continuing efforts to provide ambulance coverage for Ozark County without needing to depend on mutual aid from adjoining counties when no ambulance is available here. Gradually, the number of missed calls has decreased, Raney said, as the second crew’s hours have increased. 

For example, in February 2019, as many as 13-14 calls had to be handled by other counties’ ambulance services when Ozark County had only a single vehicle and crew – and it was answering other calls. 

Then a second crew and vehicle were added – but only for two 12-hour shifts a week. Later, that became four 10-hour shifts. Then, in September, the district board voted to expand the second crew’s service to six 13-hour shifts each week. This month the board approved expanding the schedule again so that, in addition to the one 24/7 crew, a second vehicle and crew are available from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.

The expanded service is working, Raney said. Shortly before Christmas he said, “Last month no out-of-district ambulances came into Ozark County. We handled every single call ourselves.”

Also important, the second ambulance and crew have brought in enough revenue so that the expanded service has paid for itself, Raney said in September. 

The tax-supported Ozark County Ambulance District was established by voters in 1983. For a while, it operated 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 were 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

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423