DAVENPORT, Iowa — MEDIC EMS, the nonprofit ambulance service serving Scott County, is requesting to become a government entity.
The Scott County Board of Supervisors would declare emergency medical transportation an "essential county service" and make a new county-operated ambulance service. It would essentially merge with MEDIC and be funded in part by taxes.
The nonprofit agency covers 406 of the 456 square miles in Scott County. Jeremy Pessman, the fleet community relations manager, said they average 100 calls a day.
MEDIC Executive Director Linda Frederiksen stressed the department is operating efficiently right now, but becoming a county entity addresses sustainability for the future. The department is projected to have a $1.51 million budget deficit in fiscal 2023.
"Costs are rising, fuel's rising, cost of goods, cost of capital purchases such as this ambulance are rising," Frederiksen said. "We're seeing that the cost per transport for us to actually do an ambulance transport, and we're fairly efficient, is actually exceeding the revenue per transport in many cases."
More patients are covered by Medicare and Medicaid and fewer patients are covered by private insurance companies. Medicare and Medicaid companies pay fees on a fixed-payment model, so even if MEDIC were to raise its rates, it wouldn't get more money from those payments.
Becoming a county entity would help stabilize MEDIC's budget because it would open up revenue streams not available to the ambulance service as a nonprofit.
"As a not-for-profit, we don't really have expense relief, such as we pay sales tax here," Frederiksen said. "When we buy an ambulance for $200,000+, we pay sales tax on that. We have fuel tax. And when we travel between 600,000 and 700,000 miles a year with our fleet, that adds up to a lot for both state and federal fuel excise tax. We could be qualifying for... the Iowa Offset Program. And the other one would be GEMT which stands for Ground Emergency Medical Transport."
It could also access increased general support of the county's general fund, which already sets aside up to $200,000 each year for MEDIC, or a special voter-approved tax levy.
The change could also help MEDIC retain staff. Currently, it has 146 people on staff, but is authorized to have 167. Becoming a county entity would allow them to pay competitive wages and offer a defined benefit program instead of the current 401K.
The Scott County Board of Supervisors voted Thursday, Oct. 13 to research the transition from MEDIC as a nonprofit to part of the county government. The transition plan will be reported by March 31, 2023 and will define if and when the county starts a new department to cover the services. It would also make sure all of Scott County is covered for services at a high level of service and its method of funding.
"We also need to point out that MEDIC EMS is not in current financial difficulties, is not closing its doors and there is no risk to current services," David Farmer, director of budget and administrative services for Scott County, told News 8. "This opportunity is to evaluate the long-term health of the organization, develop new funding opportunities and develop new recruitment tools for staff retention."
If MEDIC were to become part of the county, its budget would account for the second-largest department in the county, according to Farmer. It would also account for roughly a quarter of its employees, Frederiksen said.
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