Photo: Ozark County Ambulance has expanded its service, and in addition to its single 24/7 vehicle and crew, it has a second vehicle and crew available from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. Thursday-Tuesday. Crew members are (from left) Tracy Meal, John Keller, Susan Howard, Dustin Warren and Aaron Bellcock, with Ambulance District Administrator Stacy Raney (right). All are emergency medical technicians, except paramedics Keller and Raney. Photo courtesy Ozark County Times/Bruce Roberts.
Ozark County Ambulance has expanded its service and now, in addition to its single vehicle and crew available 24/7, a second vehicle and crew will be available for six 13-hour shifts each week.
The Ozark County Times reports Ozark County Ambulance District Administrator Stacy Raney says the double-crew shifts will work from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. Thursday-Tuesday. Raney says the days and times both shifts will work are based on when the most ambulance calls have been received during the past few months. Wednesdays are traditionally the slowest days for the ambulance service, but the schedule can be changed as needed.
This expansion has evolved over the last few months. At first, the second crew and vehicle worked only two 12-hour shifts each week. Later, that became four 10-hour shifts. At its Sept. 12 meeting, the district board voted to expand the second crew’s service to the six 13-hour shifts every week. Raney says eventually, the schedule may be expanded again to employ the second crew and vehicle even more hours.
He noted the newly expanded service has already paid for itself by letting Ozark County Ambulance answer calls it previously would have had to refer to adjoining counties’ ambulance services, when the county’s only vehicle and crew were already answering a call.
Raney says the number of missed calls varied. In February, as many as 13-14 calls had to be handled by other counties’ ambulance services when Ozark County’s single vehicle and crew were answering other calls. As the county’s service expanded, the number of missed calls declined.
In August, when a second ambulance was available during four 10-hour shifts per week, only one call was missed. Raney says it’s hoped the additional hours for the second vehicle and crew will keep the number of missed calls low.
Raney says besides providing improved service to the county, the second ambulance and crew have brought in enough revenue so that the expanded service has paid for itself.
And that additional revenue is not the only improvement in the district’s financial situation. Raney says a new billing company is providing more timely and productive practices, which are also bringing an improved revenue stream. In the past, the district’s collectibles have soared to as high as $500,000, when some who had been provided service did not pay.
The tax-supported Ozark County Ambulance District was established by voters in 1983. For a while, it comprised 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 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 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, Raney says the district board this year set the levy far lower – at .1850 per $100 assessed valuation. The ambulance district is also still supported by a half-cent sales tax.
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