MACC board sets ambulance rates

MOSES LAKE — When an ambulance company replaces Grant County Fire District 5’s ambulance service, it pay a similar amount for dispatching.

The Multi Agency Communications Center (MACC) board decided the next ambulance service provider is going pay the center within 1 or 2 percent of the $25.98 per call it charges agencies using the service.

A coalition of fire districts, cities and hospitals are presently requesting bids for an ambulance service to supply transportation and Advanced Life Support services. The groups formed the coalition after Fire District 5 announced it plans to end its ambulance service by April. They will open bids on Feb. 1.

MACC Director Mary Allen said other dispatch centers have similar agreements with private contractors.

“This isn’t anything new to dispatch centers. We’re not going to have to recreate the wheel or anything,” she said. “A lot of them have contracts with private companies that they’ll share with us.”

MACC Board Chair Roger Hansen said they need to know how much money the replacement service might spend for dispatching.

“I think everybody that was at the EMS discussion here a month, a month and a half ago, all agreed that the new vendor needs to have communications in order to have a flow of communications to them and back to the first responders,” he said.

Moses Lake Fire Chief Tom Taylor agreed, saying his agency needs to be able to communicate with the private contractor.

“We’re going to backing them up and vice versa,” he said.

Unless the agencies can show MACC’s workload is going to increase because of the private contractor, Taylor said the company shouldn’t pay more money than other agencies.

Grant County Fire District 3 Chief Don Fortier pointed out the goal was to have the company stay in the area. If it can’t make money, they aren’t likely to stay.

“I’d just assume make it fair across the board, give them an opportunity to succeed,” he said.

Board member and Grant County Sheriff Frank DeTrolio said MACC should charge the contractor the same fee.

“A year down the road, we can look at it again and if we have to locate a higher rate,” he said. “We need to get it up and running.”

Board member Dwight VanderVorste questioned whether the private companies should receive the same rate since the public agencies fees are subsidized by a voter-approved 0.1 percent sales tax.

“I don’t think we should try subsidizing our calls with their fees. But I think we ought to charge them what our costs truly are, which may be just slightly higher than what we’re paying” he said. “So we’re not subsidizing them.”

Board member Darrin Smith agreed, saying he doesn’t think taxpayers should be subsidizing a for-profit business.