The need for emergency medical services in Shenandoah County has grown, and soon charges might be added to cover the additional costs like ambulance fees.
WHSV reporter, Jennifer Jacobs, found out just where you’ll see these charges and why some groups are opting out.
So far, Shenandoah County hasn’t needed to charge its residents for ambulance transports. But for Chief Gary Yow, the population has grown 18-percent over the last ten years.
“We have depended entirely on generated revenue to support our Fire and Rescue EMS Delivery System. The county is growing ...the need to supplement the system with career staff...the need to be in a better position to support all the volunteer agencies financially has increased so this was the best option we felt,” says Chief Gary Yow.
Instead of raising taxes, Shenandoah County will start billing for EMS transports on February 1, 2012. Each volunteer fire and rescue agency can opt out of the new charge.
Fort Valley volunteer department already plans to not charge for ambulance fees. They will continue to fund their services through donations.
Chief Williams is the Chief of Operations in New Market. He said he has noticed an increased number of EMS calls, and he told Jennifer that it might be due to an older demographic in the county.
“Our community has over the past 10 years increased the number of nursing facilities that we have in the county. As well as the nursing facilities within our county have grown or expanded. So our population has just grown a bit older here in Shenandoah,” says Chief Timothy Williams.
And an older population has more medical needs, and the number of the EMS transports to the hospital increases.
The cost of a trip to the hospital varies from 400 to 800 dollars depending on the type of care.
County administrators say if you don’t have insurance and can’t afford to pay the fee, they will evaluate each patient on a case by case basis. In some instances, they may decide to write off the charges.
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