Ambulance Services Director Jeremy Peck

The three regular quarterly reports presented to the Washington County Supervisors last week offered some good news in 2021,

The county ambulance service, which completed its first year of operation July 1, reported 826 total calls for service in 2021, with the highest in December. Response time for units ranged from 8.34 to 11.79 minutes, depending on location. Revenue/reimbursements for the last quarter, October through December, was $395,627.19 and total department maintenance costs for District 1 and District 2 were $18,036.19 for the year.  The reimbursements are from Medicare, Medicaid, Wellmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Amerigroup, Iowa Total Care, self-pay and other insurances, hospitals, etc..

Director Jeremy Peck noted that “things are going well,” especially with the last four emergency personnel hires.

County Recorder Jo Griener reported that the department’s $198,767 in total fees was a record with $19,930 for recording of 390 mortgages and $3,934.80 in deeds. There was a large amount of property transfers and business, she said. Passports also were up with $3,755 in fees.

“People still want to travel,” she noted. However, some have obtained passports as an identification document.

For the most part, the auditor’ s report was “typical for this time of year,” with all fees totaling $2,755, which included a $500 payment for the county’s GSI Services.