Colusa County Supervisors have made a plea to their counterparts on the Colusa and Williams city councils to make a financial commitment to help the county keep a single Advanced Life Support ambulance on duty 24 hours per day, seven days a week for the next four years.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Merced Corona and Supervisor Daurice Kalfsbeek Smith appeared before the Colusa City Council on May 17, and Smith appeared before the Williams City Council on May 18, with a request for each city to pitch in $212,500 each, which would total half of the $850,000 needed to fund an ambulance.
The remaining 50 percent or $425,000 would be covered by the county.
Enloe currently provides the service but their elimination of a second 12-hour ALS wasn’t enough to cover the total loss of providing emergency medical transport services.
Smith said ambulance services in most rural communities are in crisis, largely because of low state and federal reimbursements for Medi-Cal and Medicare patients, who make up more than 70 percent of the customer base.
“The one ALS ambulance that we currently have is continuing to operate at a loss of over $830,000,” Smith said. “We are at risk of losing the one ALS that we do have.”
Colusa County has been working the past two years with a consultant to come up with a plan to fund ambulance services, initially to assure that at least two ambulances were operating daily.
But officials said with escalating wage and fuel costs adding to the problem, Colusa County is at risk of losing the last remaining ambulance – should Enloe Medical Center decide they can no longer subsidize the service.
While Colusa Fire and several rural fire districts have stepped up to offset the initial reduction in services by providing transport with basic life support vehicles, Smith said the county may not have a choice but to immediately find a way to secure the one ALS unit while continuing to look for a way to enhance emergency ground ambulance services overall.
Smith and Corona, who sit on the county’s ambulance ad hoc committee, have proposed going out for competitive bidding with an $850,000 cap to see what provider might be willing to offer their services.
Smith has asked both cities to consider committing 25 percent each to the cost annually for four years, to give the county an opportunity to come up with an alternative plan. The county has kicked around the idea of asking voters for a sales tax increase, which would – if passed – provide funding for enhanced ambulance services into the future.
The Colusa City Council agreed to place the request before the full council at their June 21 meeting. The Williams City Council turned the matter over to the Finance Committee to discuss and come back with a recommendation at the June 22 meeting.
“Legally, we have to have one ALS ambulance in the county,” Smith said. “Right now, we are just trying to secure that one.” ■