Athens County will split from the financially unstable Southeast Ohio Emergency Medical Services Jan. 1 to secure the establishment of a one-district EMS system, a decision made at the July 13 Athens County Commissioners meeting.
SEOEMS, which provided service to Athens, Jackson and Lawrence counties for more than 30 years, recently began experiencing financial turmoil stemming from patient payment over-projections of almost $300,000 in the 2010 budget, said Eric Kuhn, executive director of SEOEMS.
Because SEOEMS miscalculated its yearly revenue, there was a decrease in funds for the counties' EMS systems, Kuhn said.
SEOEMS also faced financial problems because of past due bills and almost $2.3 million in uncollected bills, Athens County Commissioner Larry Payne said.
Payne said SEOEMS projected $3.2 million in revenue for Athens County in 2010, which he said was too high. He added that the commissioners expect the 2011 Athens County EMS service will run off of an estimated $2.8 million in revenue from patient payments.
Shortly after Athens announced its withdrawal, Jackson County followed suit.
The average consumer will not see a change in the services provided
Athens County Commissioner Lenny Eliason said. The Athens County Board of Commissioners will run the services instead of contracting out like we've done for the last 30 years.
Although Athens County is officially splitting from SEOEMS, Payne said if the SEOEMS board members can present a viable solution to their financial problems at the Sept. 14 board meeting, Athens and Jackson counties would consider returning.
I really have my doubts that SEOEMS will revive itself but I really do hope it can be worked out Payne said. The multi-county EMS system was a great model for a number of years
but maybe it's passed its time.
1
News
Laura Service
32118a.jpg
Paramedic Rodney Sheets of Columbus, Ohio, pulls out an ambulance at the Southeast Ohio Emergency Medical Services District on West Union Street yesterday. Sheets has been working for SEOEMS for two years.(Erin Corneliussen | PICTURE EDITOR)
