By John Estridge
Two of the major expenditures for Union County are the ambulance and health insurance contracts.
This year both are up for bid. Union County Council members discussed the unknown monetary factors of the new ambulance service and the health insurance contracts during their monthly meeting Thursday, June 18 while they were discussing their upcoming 2021 budget hearings in August.
On the next day, Friday morning, June 19, commissioners engaged in a conversation about the nuts and bolts of putting out those bids before the budget hearings commence. The current ambulance contract expires at the end of the calendar year while the health insurance contract ends Oct. 1.
Commissioners Tim Williams and Howard Curry were present in the Commissioners Meeting Room on the second floor of the Union County Courthouse. President Paul Wiwi was at his home and participated in the meeting via speaker phone. Williams, as commission vice president, chaired the meeting. Much of the meeting was taken up with discussing what the commissioners wanted in the ambulance bid specs, including how many years to make the contract.
Ambulance
Currently, Spirit Medical Transport LLC of Greenville, Ohio, services the county.
Union County Auditor Cheryl Begley said the county should receive the bids back from the interested companies by Aug. 21 so council will have an opportunity to work the 2021 budget in order to pay for the contract. Council has a public hearing on the 2021 budget set for Aug. 20. At that meeting or before, council members will probably schedule the budget workshop meetings to commence in late August or early September.
At the June 17 council meeting, council president Richard Blank said the two biggest unknowns facing council in working on the 2021 budget are the ambulance contract and any increase in premiums with the health insurance for the county employees.
Wiwi said he wanted a multi-year contract so they don’t have to go through the bid process every year.
Williams said he contacted the county’s attorney, Jim Williams, and the State Board of Accounts allows for contracts up to five years in length. Jim Williams said it is possible to ask for a three-year contract and then have an option for another two-year extension on the contract.
All three commissioners discussed their dissatisfaction for a one-year contract, but they decided to leave that as an option.
According to Curry, he has been approached by some Liberty Volunteer Fire Department members who wanted changes to the specifications for an ambulance service. However, Curry could not remember the specifics of their suggestions.
It was decided Wiwi would contact West College Corner Volunteer Fire Chief Donnie Jackson while Tim Williams will contact LVFD Chief Jim Barnhizer and either get the desired changes from them or schedule a meeting with the fire chiefs, one commissioner and a couple of county councilmen to go over desired changes in the bid specifications.
They also plan to talk to and/or invite to the meeting 911 personnel and the county’s police agencies to see if they have any concerns or suggestions.
Wiwi wanted to know what the county was currently asking in the bid packet. Begley had constructed possible bid specs based on past contracts. Tim Williams read it aloud so everyone could hear it together.
“Ambulance response times for emergency calls should be 12 minutes or less 90 percent of the time,” Williams read. “Bidders should have a minimum of one advanced life-support-equipped ambulance staffed to answer all first-out ambulance calls in the county at all times. First-out ambulance should be staffed by a minimum of one EMT advanced and one EMT basic 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Additionally, bidders shall provide basic life-support-equipped ambulance during major holidays to include July 4 and Labor Day or any other dates that the county population is expected to have a sizable increase. Mutual agreeable staffing dates and times to be determined by the commissioners and/or their designees. Staffing for the ambulance should be a minimum of one EMT basic and one driver.”
Wiwi said Spirit seems like it is hitting the 12-minute average for response times. He expects calls to places like Egypt Hollow take longer than 12 minutes.
Tim Williams went over the different companies, which has serviced Union County since the county went away from a volunteer service: St. Clair Emergency Medical Service, Rural/Metro Ambulance Service and Spirit.
Wiwi has been a commissioner during the service of all three ambulance companies, he said.
According to Wiwi, he would like to have all the information available for the commissioners’ next meeting, which is scheduled for 8:30 a.m., Friday, July 10. He wants to then send the bid packet out so the interested companies will have enough time to have them returned by Aug. 21.
Health Insurance
Commissioners also briefly discussed upcoming health insurance bids with health insurance costs being another unknown in the budgeting process.
Begley said at least one local insurance company has expressed interest in bidding this year. Curry said he would like to have as many local insurance companies as possible bidding on the package. Begley said there are currently 49 employees on the policy. Some have opted to take Medicare instead, officials said.
Begley said she will get up the bid specs and have them published.