City, county closer to deal on rural ambulance service

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By KENDRA WALTKE / Lincoln Journal Star

Despite last week’s flap over the price, rural fire districts will collectively pay Lincoln Fire and Rescue $120,000 for providing emergency services outside the city next year.

A week ago, the county board was told the city would seek $180,000 to offset LFR’s losses from providing service to rural areas. The Lincoln department handles advanced life support and some basic life support for calls in the rural areas.

This week, talks were back on track for the lower amount.

“At this point (Lincoln Fire & Rescue and city officials) don’t want to lose the county participation,” said Greg Hall, a Raymond assistant fire chief and chairman of the EMS committee, charged with hammering out a deal.

“They still want to respond to us, and they understand we’re having a hard time getting the money on such a short notice.”

The parties will continue to work toward a long-term solution.

Attorneys are back to working on a one-year contract that will be offered to the roughly 20 rural fire districts served by LFR, Hall said.

Each district will have the option of not signing, but Hall expected enough participation to reach LFR’s $120,000 request, based on responses from rural district, he said.

The Lincoln department also collects from rural patients they transfer, but incurs losses when patients don’t pay, or when insurance or Medicare reimbursements are lower than what it charges.

How each rural fire district will fund its share has yet to be decided, Hall said. Plans vary by district.

Last year, the county and city chipped in together to cover LFR’s reported losses; the city paid $120,000 and the county $60,000.

That funding will end Aug. 31, giving the committee a firm deadline to come up with a deal.

A close estimate of LFR’s average yearly losses for providing rural service is not yet known, pending a study that will be finished this fall.

Last week’s confusion over the contract amount was due to Lincoln Fire and Rescue’s misunderstanding of Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler’s directive to LFR to cover its losses, Chief Niles Ford said Thursday.

The $120,000 is close to what the department would want for the first year of a three-year contract, which would then stairstep up each year to give the rural districts time to adjust, Ford said.

The committee charged with brokering a deal between the rural districts and the Lincoln department began seeking a solution three years ago.

Reach Kendra Waltke at 473-7303 or kwaltke@journalstar.com.