The Washington County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved forming a Washington County Ambulance Advisory Committee to review options and recommend a plan to keep ambulance services in the county.

The vote was 4-0, with Richard Young abstaining. He is director of the privately operated Washington County Ambulance Service, with which the county contracts.

Discussions about the service, which has faced increasing problems in reimbursements from insurance providers, including Medicare and Medicaid, began informally in July.

Now, with the new committee, specific solutions such as a possible county-owned and operated service, will be held throughout the county well before the contract with the current service expires.

Committee meets are expected to be held at least monthly.

There is nothing in state regulations that requires ambulance service be considered with the same necessity as police or fire protection, according to Supervisor Jack Seward Jr. This is something that hits heavily in rural areas, he said.

Rural areas are under county jurisdiction.

“We must find a way to keep the same level of service that we have,” he added, noting that it likely will have to come to a public vote for funding.  “If the public were to fail to pass that, we will be between a rock and a hard place.”

Among the options are continuing ambulance service or not, joining with other entities to share service and costs, contracting with an outside provider (which could lead to simply a basic minimum service) or establishing a county service.

Other possibilities are getting the legislators to put ambulance services on a par with fire and police and continuing as the county has been doing, but with the need to up the levy to pay for it.

Equally important is the training provided by the ambulance service for the first responders and other emergency volunteers in the county. Resident Tom Duwa asked that these be considered since, like their name, they often are the first on the scene of any emergency 

Seward agreed, explaining that if the county established its own service, it could serve as the “umbrella group” for emergency and related services, coordinating efforts.

There is no argument about the need for the services, he added, only about how to pay for it, which is why determining real costs for current and additional services is an important factor for the new committee, board members agreed.

The current levy is 37.9 cents per $1,000 valuation. 

The committee will have representatives from all emergency services as well as from local governments, the county hospital, county Public Health, WEDG, and other interested parties.

The tentative goal is to seek a ballot measure for the service before next summer.