Wellman City Administrator Kelly Litwiller

Cities along Highway 22 are looking to bring an ambulance to the northern tier of Washington County.

Officials from Wellman and Kalona have had preliminary talks with the new director of the county’s ambulance service, Jeremy Peck, about housing an ambulance in the northern part of the county.

“We want to put together an informal committee like we did with the sheriff’s department when we were looking at a run on the northern end of the county,” Wellman City Administrator Kelly Litwiller said Monday. “We want to look at, now that the county is operating their own (ambulance service), response times and looking at the northern section and possibly being able to do something.”

Beginning July 1, the county will operate the ambulance service, which is currently privately owned and based in Washington.

“The goal is to have an ambulance somewhere in the northern end of the county when they start up on July 1,” Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh said. “Wellman and potentially Riverside may join in. We can see where our strengths and weaknesses are and where it may be housed.”

Riverside has been considering starting its own ambulance service, but those plans were nixed by the City Council on Monday night.

“I think it would be good to have that higher level of care close to home,” Wellman City Council member Mark Philpot said.

Schlabaugh said discussions would continue through May and June.