Mayor wants details on ambulance contract

Columbus Mayor Kristen Brown wants details now on future ambulance service, but a county official said what she wants doesn’t exist.

Bartholomew Council Council member Larry Fisher, who also heads the Columbus Emergency Ambulance Services Board, said he hopes to have by Tuesday at least some of the specifics requested by Brown on a proposed five-year emergency ambulance contract with Columbus Regional Hospital.

The Columbus Board of Works and Public Safety is scheduled to make a decision on the city’s emergency ambulance provider on Tuesday. The ambulance board voted last week to recommend the city and county choose the hospital as the provider, but the vote was advisory and not binding on the Board of Works.

Under the five-year contract proposed by the hospital, the county would pay $300,000 in subsidies for one year while the city of Columbus would pay nothing in 2013. After that, subsidies for ambulance service are expected to end. The ambulance board voted 3-2 on July 27 to recommend the contract.

During an informational meeting Wednesday for the County Council, Brown asked the hospital and ambulance board members for details on how the hospital’s flexible, tiered proposal would ensure public safety and stability. She said there are too many unknown factors at this time.

“We hope we have something solid to give her before Tuesday,” Fisher said. “I’m really not sure what it is she’s looking for. But we’re trying to accommodate.”

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