Local News
Trust could contract with city's ambulance service
STILLWATER, Okla. — The city-owned ambulance service could be a player in the Western Payne County Ambulance Trust Board’s search for a provider, Stillwater city staff said.
And a Stillwater firefighters union representative speculated a private ambulance service may take longer to respond to calls because it wouldn’t have the equipment needed to keep response times short.
The Western Payne County Ambulance Trust Board isn’t ready to hire an ambulance service, yet. Tuesday, it will consider hiring a consultant to start that process. It’s an expense that could be passed on the taxpayers.
City Manager Dan Galloway said it could be possible for the city to create a city-owned ambulance service to contract with the trust, but could not offer any specifics. He did say it would involve altering the city’s collective bargaining agreement with Stillwater firefighters.
“At the present time, we cannot hire an employee in the fire department to solely work on an ambulance,” Galloway said. “ ... There are many issues that would have to be resolved.”
Local firefighter’s union president and Stillwater Fire Department Battalion Chief Jay Willis said any private company contracted with the city would result in a decrease in services and an increase in costs.
“There will be a big difference,” Willis said. “If a private company does it, they have to make a profit. Our department in effect never makes a profit.”
Willis said a private companies efforts to make money might result in longer response times.
“Now, (the fire department has) four ambulances, and there’s actually several times a month when there is no ambulance available for several minutes,” he said. “What’s it going to be like if they have only two or three?”
Ambulance Trust Board Chairman Jerry Moeller, president of Stillwater Medical Center, said the board will need to iron out how it will pay the consultant and, at a later date, a lawyer.
That expense could be passed on to the trust’s “beneficiaries,” namely the city of Stillwater and Payne County. However, the trust also has the power to take out bank loans of up to $25,000 without the public’s approval.
The board meets at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the Honska Conference Center in Stillwater Medical Center, located at 1323 W. Sixth St. where board members will likely discuss how to go about funding a consultant and lawyer.
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