The contract with the villages has been effective since 2009 and decreed that the villages could provide autonomous EMS services to their respective areas.
WEST UNION, oHIO — The villages of West Union and Manchester are in a dispute with the Adams County Board of Commissioners after the decision was made not to renew their EMS contracts this year.
The contract with the villages has been effective since 2009 and decreed that the villages could provide autonomous EMS services to their respective areas.
On Sept. 20, the Board of Commissioners issued an official notification letter to the mayors of the aforementioned villages.
“The voters of Adams County approved a county-wide EMS levy in November of 1983 which renewed subsequently each time an EMS levy was placed on the ballot for provision of EMS services to all citizens of Adams County. In 2009, the Board of Commissioners entered into an agreement with the villages of West Union and Manchester to provide emergency medical services to their respective villages and various townships in their areas,” said the letter.
The Board of Commissioners has decided not to renew the contracts with either village and to provide county-wide services 100 percent through the Adams County EMS as passed and approved by our voters, the letter continued.
“As per the contract, this serves as an official notice of intent not to renew the contract and to inform you that the county will begin providing EMS services throughout the entire county effective Jan. 1, 2022. The Board of Commissioners would like to extend an invitation for the villages to transition their employees into the Adams County EMS organization based on the current salary and benefits package,” said the letter.
The letter was closed with further encouragement to contact the office should any questions pertaining to this change in contractual services arise.
On Sept. 22, the Village of West Union issued a statement in response.
“Earlier this week, the Village of West Union learned that Commissioners Ty Pell, Diane Ward and Barbara Moore voted not to renew the long-standing EMS contract with the village, resulting in the take-over of services from West Union EMS to Adams County EMS. In this stunning overreach, the Board of Commissioners has forgotten local control should always come first. For over a decade, the village has had a contractual agreement to provide these services for $120,000 per year,” said the statement.
Since the commencement of the 2018 EMS levy, nearly 40 percent of the tax dollars generated from our citizens and surrounding townships have been spent in other parts of the county, primarily in the northern part, the statement continued.
“In recent meetings, the village has pleaded that after a decade of no substantial increases, it was time to increase the contractual amount, due to the rising cost of emergency medication and critical medical services from the COVID-19 pandemic and the opioid epidemic. The bottom line is that for years the people of Liberty, Tiffin, Brush Creek and Jefferson Townships, along with the Village of West Union, have been paying to subsidize a fundamentally weak county EMS system,” said the statement.
The Adams County EMS system has failed at recruiting new personnel, failed at making timely runs and failed at even figuring out a proper management system, the statement continued.
“Now, they want to expand their shortcomings to the West Union EMS service area. The Village of West Union is working with our legal team to protect the residents of West Union and the surrounding townships from this abusive power-grab from the commissioners. We fear that their decision will cost people their lives,” said the letter, in closing.
Asst. Chief Danni Studebaker of West Union Life Squad and Chief Rick Bowman of Manchester Life Squad either declined or were not ready to comment on the issue at press time.
Along with disputing the claims made by the Village of West Union, on Sept. 29, the Board of Commissioners held a special meeting to prepare conclusive remarks on the divisive issue for The Defender.
“The Adams County EMS organization will no longer be contracting for the provision of emergency medical services. The Adams County Commissioners unanimously voted not to renew the contracts with the Villages of West Union and Manchester. The Villages of West Union and Manchester have already received the certified letter notice of the 60-day contract termination date effective 12/31/2021 according to the guidelines of the EMS contract. The Adams County EMS levy is solely controlled by the Adams County Board of Commissioners and has been since 1983. The County has a responsibility to provide EMS services due to the county-wide tax levy. The county is not required to contract with any government or private EMS service. The purpose of the levy is to provide county-wide services, not divide the tax dollars per entity,” said Pell, Ward and Moore.
The decision to make Adams County EMS one overall organization again was not an easy decision, they said.
“The conclusion to terminate agreements was mainly due to loss of revenues from the DP and L closure in June of 2018. The Adams County EMS levy suffered a loss of over $500,000 in revenues due to the closure, while the Village contracts have remained consistent. Recently, both mayors of West Union and Manchester have met with the board to request additional funding for their respective EMS departments. The mayors were informed of the financial situation due to the DP and L closure, how the County paid for 9-1-1 and all the Auditor and Treasurer fees with no assistance from the villages,” said the Commissioners.
To add to the additional loss of revenue, West Union Life Squad has transported several jail inmates and the Sheriff’s Office received invoices totaling $81,717.46 which had to be paid with County tax dollars, they said.
“Manchester Life Squad also transported jail inmates at a cost of $1,948.20. This caused an exorbitant burden on the County’s budget which has also suffered a loss of over $1 million dollars annually due to the closure of DP&L. Research showed that inmates from other Ohio counties were transported at a contract cost of $40 to $200 per run. The County’s projected savings of over $74,465.66 will be realized if contracted at the highest amount of $200 per run with Adams County EMS. The County recently dispersed nearly $40,000.00 in CARES funding to West Union Life Squad to assist them with expenses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. The West Union Village Council did not request the $189,450.61 of federal CARES Act funding available to them in 2020, yet the County felt they should assist them with COVID-19 expenses,” said the Commissioners.
Manchester did utilize the CARES Act funding for their EMS.
“Adams County EMS has made multiple runs to the West Union area during the past year providing “mutual aid” assistance at no additional cost to West Union. The EMS employees of West Union and Manchester have been offered the opportunity to transition to employees of Adams County EMS and will be paid at a rate of $13/hr for “basics”, $14/hr for “advanced” and $15/hr for “paramedics” with health insurance, life insurance and retirement benefits should they decide to transition to Adams County EMS,” said the Commissioners.
West Union Life Squad employees are paid on a shift-by-shift basis at a rate we believe is below minimum wage, they said. The board recognized that they did not know how Manchester employees were paid.
“The desire of the Adams County Board of Commissioners is to pay employees a reasonable rate plus provide benefits for the provision of quality EMS care and services. Adams County EMS will also have a presence in the Village of West Union due to a recent property acquisition at 33 Spruce Lane. The property consists of garage bays for squads and several rooms for EMS personnel. The property will also allow for general maintenance on the squads which can be completed by EMS personnel, thus realizing savings for maintenance,” said the Commissioners.
Adams County EMS is also actively planning a presence in Manchester.
“This decision was made to ensure that we are providing the highest quality of care in the most efficient way while being good stewards of tax levy dollars. A unified county EMS will save county tax dollars, provide fair and equal pay for EMS employees in the county and efficiently provide essential services to our constituents. As an overall conclusion, Adams County EMS will have complete coverage and services will continue to be provided to the constituents in a timely manner,” said the Commissioners.
In closing, the Commissioners added that the Adams County Commissioners’ highest priority is quality patient care and timely transportation for all constituents requiring EMS services.
